Study of Protein Constituents of Lepidopteran Peritrophic Membranes

动物在生态系统中面临着许多环境挑战。消化道是与环境接触并与各种物理，化学和生物因素相互作用的主要部位。特别地，肠道的细胞外基质衬里，其通常是高等动物中的粘液层，并且是无脊椎动物（特别是昆虫）中的围食膜（PM），直接与环境接触并充当第一道防线。因此，了解PM的形成和功能是了解昆虫与其植物或动物宿主，微生物和环境中各种非生物因子相互作用的基础。PMs是由几丁质和蛋白质组成的独特的细胞外基质，其结构和功能严重依赖于蛋白质。本研究的目的是了解PM蛋白在PM结构和形成中的功能。通过沉默鳞翅目昆虫粉纹夜蛾（Trichoplusia ni）中单个PM蛋白基因的表达来研究PM蛋白的功能，以揭示PM蛋白在PM形成中的作用，并通过分析单个PM蛋白基因响应PM损伤和取食不同宿主植物的表达来研究PM蛋白合成的动态调节及其与宿主植物相互作用的功能。此外，主要PM蛋白，昆虫肠粘蛋白，与其他PM蛋白的相互作用将被检查和表征，以确定蛋白质-蛋白质相互作用在PM结构和形成中的作用。这项研究将有助于对PM的分子特性和功能有更广泛和深入的了解，这将促进对PM在昆虫生理学，生物化学和分子生物学领域的理解，并有助于了解昆虫与环境的相互作用，包括其宿主植物/动物，微生物和其他环境因素。从该项目中获得的知识可以指导开发新的战略，用于控制农业和医学上重要的公共福利害虫。本研究是一项集科研与教学于一体的课题。它将为博士后和研究生和本科生培训提供机会，这是主要研究者计划的一个组成部分。

Animals face numerous environmental challenges in the ecosystem. The digestive tract is a primary site interfacing with the environment and interacting with various physical, chemical and biological factors. Particularly, the extracellular matix lining of the gut, which is often a mucus layer in higher animals and is the peritrophic membrane (PM) in invertebrates (especially in insects), directly interfaces with the environment and serves as the first line of defense. Therefore, understanding of the formation and function of the PM is fundamental for understanding the interactions of insects with their plant or animal hosts, microorganisms and various abiotic factors from the environment. PMs are a unique extracellular matrix composed of chitin and proteins, and their structure and function are critically dependent on the proteins. The aim of this research is to understand the function of PM proteins in PM structure and formation. The function of PM proteins will be investigated by silencing the expression of individual PM protein genes in a Lepidoptera insect, Trichoplusia ni, to reveal the roles of the proteins in PM formation and by profiling the expression of individual PM protein genes in response to PM damage and to feeding on different host plants to examine the dynamic regulation of PM protein synthesis and their function in interaction with host plants. In addition, interactions of the major PM protein, the insect intestinal mucin, with other PM proteins will be examined and characterized to identify the role of protein-protein interaction in the PM structure and formation. This proposed research is expected to result in a broad and in-depth understanding of the molecular properties and function of the PM, which will advance the understanding of the PM in the areas of insect physiology, biochemistry and molecular biology and facilitate the understanding of the interactions of insects with the environment, including their host plants/animals, microorganisms and other environmental factors. The knowledge derived from this project may direct development of new strategies for the control of agriculturally and medically important insect pests for public welfare. This proposed research is an integrative project of research and education. It will provide opportunities for postdoctoral and both graduate and undergraduate student training, which is an integral component of the principal investigators program.