Transcriptomic alterations in Sitophilus zeamais in response to allyl isothiocyanate fumigation

•Performed analysis of Sitophilus zeamais transcriptome in response to Allyl Isothionate (AITC) fumigation.•Obtained 31,041 unigenes by assembling reads from Illumina Hiseq 2500.•Gained 388 differentially expressed transcripts caused by AITC fumigation.•Mitochondrial ROS would be increased and mitochondrial membrane potential would be damaged after AITC fumigation.•Cytoskeleton collapse and mitochondrial dysfunction are significant lethal mechanisms of AITC.

To study the fumigation mechanisms of Allyl isothiocyanate (AITC) a promising biorational alternative to present fumigants (phosphine and methyl bromide), and provide theoretical basis for its further development in the control of stored grain pests, this research presents a transcriptome analysis of Sitophilus zeamais fumigated with AITC at the concentration of LC50 (5.69 μg/mL) and control over 8 h. 21,869,022 and 23,873,110 clean reads in insects fumigated with AITC and control were gained, respectively. The results of RNA-seq were confirmed by qRT-PCR determination of the expression levels of NADH dehydrogenase subunit 6 and Vacuolar ATP synthase subunit B in the insects fumigated with AITC at different concentrations. After enrichment analysis of differentially expressed genes, 117 over-expressed and 271 down-regulated transcripts were gained. Following GO enrichment, these transcripts were classified into 38 GO subgroups (at level 2), and the majority enriched GO terms were “Binding” “Cell process” and “metabolic”. KEGG enrichment analysis showed that the majority enriched pathway were “Folding, sorting and degradation”, “Transport and catabolism”, “Energy metabolism”, and “Carbohydrate metabolism”. Connected with previous researches on mechanisms of isothiocyanates, cytoskeleton collapse and mitochondria dysfunction are proposed to be significant lethal mechanisms of AITC.

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