Testosterone maintains male longevity and female reproduction in Chrysopa pallens
Xiaoping Liu,
Xingkai Guo,
Tingting Zhang,
Jiaqi Duan,
Lisheng Zhang,
Mengqing Wang,
Yuyan Li,
Zhongjian Shen,
Jianjun Mao
Affiliations
Xiaoping Liu
Key Laboratory of Natural Enemy Insects, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, PR China
Xingkai Guo
Key Laboratory of Natural Enemy Insects, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, PR China
Tingting Zhang
School of Advanced Manufacturing, Fuzhou University, Jinjiang, 362251, PR China
Jiaqi Duan
Key Laboratory of Natural Enemy Insects, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, PR China
Lisheng Zhang
Key Laboratory of Natural Enemy Insects, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, PR China
Mengqing Wang
Key Laboratory of Natural Enemy Insects, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, PR China
Yuyan Li
Key Laboratory of Natural Enemy Insects, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, PR China
Zhongjian Shen
Key Laboratory of Natural Enemy Insects, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, PR China
Jianjun Mao
Key Laboratory of Natural Enemy Insects, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, PR China; Corresponding author.
Vertebrate testosterone, an androgen present in the testes, is essential for male fertility. Vertebrate-type steroid hormones have been identified in insects, but their function remains unknown. Insect vitellogenin (Vg) is usually a female-specific protein involved in reproductive processes. However, males of some species, such as the green lacewing Chrysopa pallens, have Vg. Here, we demonstrated that the knockdown of C. pallens male Vg by RNAi significantly shortened the lifespan of males, suppressed the reproduction of post-mating females, and strikingly reduced the abundance of several immune-related compounds, including testosterone. LC-MS/MS revealed that C. pallens male testosterone had the same structure and molecular mass as vertebrate testosterone. Topical testosterone application partially restored the lifespan of Vg-deficient males and the reproduction of post-mating females. These results suggest that vertebrate-type testosterone maintains male longevity and female reproduction under the control of the male Vg in C. pallens.
