在土壤生态系统中节肢动物以真菌生物质为食，真菌通过化学防御来抵御节肢动物采食。一般认为真菌通过合成具有毒性的真菌毒素来抵御节肢动物采食，但申请人之前的研究发现：真菌次级代谢产物黄色镰刀菌素对多种节肢动物有显著拒食效果却没有毒性，提示其在真菌化学防御中发挥重要作用。本项目将在这一重要发现基础上，综合使用多种方法，研究模式生物白符跳拒食无毒黄色镰刀菌素的机制。将纯化的黄色镰刀菌素与酵母粉混合后饲喂白符跳，通过宏基因组分析研究白符跳肠道微生物变化；通过转录组、蛋白质组和靶标蛋白筛选等技术，解析受黄色镰刀菌素影响的具体信号通路，筛选其在白符跳体内作用的靶标蛋白，明确白符跳对黄色镰刀菌素反应的具体信号途径。本研究将揭示白符跳拒食无毒真菌次级代谢产物黄色镰刀菌素的机制，对深入认识节肢动物对真菌防御物质的反应机制和新型生物农药的设计研发具有重要意义。

In soil ecosystems, arthropods feed on fungal biomass and fungi defense arthropod predation through the chemical defense. It is generally believed that fungi resist arthropod predation by synthesizing mycotoxins. However, in our previous study, we found that fungal secondary metabolite aurofusarin has antifeedant effects on a wide range of arthropods without toxicity, suggesting its essential roles in fungal chemical defense. Based on this important finding, we aim to combine multiple techniques to study the mechanism of model organism Folsomia candida refuse to uptake non-toxic aurofusarin. The purified aurofusarin is mixed with granulated dry yeast and used to feed Folsomia candida. The metagenomic analysis will be employed to investigate the change of Folsomia candida gut microbiota after the consumption of aurofusarin. The transcriptome, proteome and target protein screening approaches will be employed to elucidate the signaling pathways that are affected by aurofusarin and to screen the target protein of aurofusarin in Folsomia candida, which could clarify the signaling pathways of Folsomia candida in response to aurofusarin. This study will elucidate the mechanism of Folsomia candida refuse to uptake non-toxic fungal secondary metabolite aurofusarin, which exerts great significance for understanding the arthropod’s response mechanism to fungal defense substances and for the design and development of novel biopesticide.