Abstract：
Swarming and pairing behaviors are significant to population dispersal of termites. Tandem running is a key process in pairing behavior of dealates to find a mate. Succinylation can lead to significant changes in protein structure and function, which is widely involved in metabolism and behavior regulation in many organisms. However, whether succinylation modification regulates termites\' tandem running is currently unknown. In this research, we performed quantitative modified proteomics of the subterranean termite Reticulitermes chinensis Snyder before and after alate swarming. The succinylation levels of accessory gland protein (ACP) were significantly altered after alate swarming. We found that ACP is enriched in male accessory gland and female oocytes of termites. The acetylation and succinylation sites of ACP affected tandem running of dealates. The transcriptome and metabolome analyses of alates injected with ACP and its mutant proteins showed that β-alanine metabolism pathway was the major downstream pathway of ACP. Silencing the significantly differentially expressed genes in the β-alanine metabolic pathway (acyl-CoA dehydrogenase, enoyl-CoA hydratase, 3-hydroxyisobutyrate dehydrogenase, methylmalonate-semialdehyde dehydrogenase) suppressed tandem running and altered oviposition of paired dealates. These findings demonstrate that protein translation modification is an important regulator of tandem running behavior of termites, which implies that the succinylation and acetylation modification sites of ACP could be potential targets for insecticide action. Our research offers a potential approach for developing novel dispersal inhibitors against social insect pests.
摘要：
成群和配对行为对白蚁的种群扩散具有重要意义。串联运行是交易配对行为中寻找伴侣的关键过程。琥珀酰化可导致蛋白质结构和功能的显著变化，它广泛参与许多生物体的代谢和行为调节。然而,琥珀酰化修饰是否调节白蚁的串联运行目前尚不清楚。在这项研究中,我们在alate蜂群前后对地下白蚁网状白蚁进行了定量修饰的蛋白质组学研究。alate蜂拥后，副腺蛋白（ACP）的琥珀酰化水平显着改变。我们发现ACP富集在白蚁的雄性副腺体和雌性卵母细胞中。ACP的乙酰化和琥珀酰化位点影响了反应物的串联运行。对注射ACP及其突变蛋白的alates的转录组和代谢组分析表明，β-丙氨酸代谢途径是ACP的主要下游途径。沉默β-丙氨酸代谢途径中显著差异表达的基因（酰基辅酶A脱氢酶，烯酰辅酶A水合酶，3-羟基异丁酸脱氢酶,甲基丙二酸-半醛脱氢酶）抑制了串联运行并改变了配对的产卵。这些发现表明，蛋白质翻译修饰是白蚁串联运行行为的重要调节因子，这表明ACP的琥珀酰化和乙酰化修饰位点可能是杀虫剂作用的潜在靶标。我们的研究为开发针对社会性害虫的新型扩散抑制剂提供了潜在的方法。
