Genome-wide Identification and Bioinformatics Analysis of bHLH Gene Family in Spodoptera frugiperda

Abstract

【Objective】Spodoptera frugiperda J. E. Smith is an important invasive pest that poses a great threat to food security in China. Basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) gene family transcription factors play important roles in insect growth and development. Therefore, they may be candidate target genes for RNAi pesticides. In order to determine the relevant targets of S. frugiperda bHLH genes, the information of S. frugiperda bHLH gene family members was identified and analyzed.【Method】Based on the genome-wide data, the physicochemical properties, subcellular localization, conserved protein domain, phylogenetic evolution, gene chromosome localization and tertiary protein structure prediction of the bHLH gene family members in S. frugiperda were analyzed.【Result】A total of 56 bHLH genes were identified in the genome of S. frugiperda, encoding 54 different protein sequences. The number of amino acids of SfbHLH transcription factors was 84-2557, the isoelectric point was 4.88-10.76, and the relative molecular weight was 9 751.19-285 517.20. The members of the bHLH gene family were divided into six groups from A to F, with 25, 9, 10, 1, 10 and 1 genes encoding 24, 9, 10, 1, 9 and 1 different protein sequences, respectively. Members of the same group had similar types of motif, and most bHLH domains of the same group were grouped together within the same branch in phylogenetic analysis, indicating that they were conserved in evolution. Group A member HLH4C (Sfru006728.1) and Group B member guanylate cyclase Gyc76C (Sfru012226.1) were predicted to contain not only bHLH, but also the conserved domain of genes related to guanylate metabolism, and they had more complex tertiary structure than other genes in the same group. It was speculated that both of them may be derived from the duplication and overlap of guanylate metabolism genes and bHLH genes in evolution, and may have unknown complex physiological functions.【Conclusion】The 56 bHLH gene family members of S. frugiperda were identified and analyzed to obtain their sequence, physicochemical properties, subcellular location, structure and evolution information, which is helpful to further study the functions of the bHLH transcription factor family members and screen the RNAi pesticide targets of S. frugiperda.

Keywords

• spodoptera frugiperda
• bhlh
• transcription factor
• gene family
• functional structure