Helicoverpa armigera
not annotated - annotated - LINNAEUS only
21166910
Natural history and intragenomic dynamics of the Transib transposon Hztransib in the cotton bollworm Helicoverpa zea.
Hztransib, recently identified from Helicoverpa zea, represents the first intact and transcriptionally active Transib element. Its open reading frame was detected in Helicoverpa armigera, from which H. zea evolved, and in Helicoverpa assulta, the common ancestor of H. zea and H. armigera, but its remaining parts were found only in H. armigera. Thirty-nine Hztransib insertion sites, all of which are polymorphic, were detected from eight populations of H. zea. Out of the 39 insertion sites, 35 were not frequently occupied, with 1-33 occurrences in a total of 128 individuals from the eight populations (16 larvae per population). Its copy number ranged from 5.8 to 14.2 per individual, with putative intact copies always more abundant than internally deleted ones. Taking this evidence together, Hztransib probably transferred to H. zea from H. armigera and most likely still retains its capacity to maintain structural integrity, increase copy number and remobilize in H. zea.
21585579
Beta-Thymosin is upregulated by the steroid hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone and microorganisms.
Thymosins have diverse biological activities including actin-sequestering and tissue repair in vertebrates, however, there is little information about the function of thymosins in invertebrates. We isolated a Beta-thymosin gene in Helicoverpa armigera. It has two transcript variants, HaTHY1 and HaTHY2, encoding 19.0 kDa and 14.5 kDa peptides, respectively. HaTHY1 was mainly transcribed in the integument and midgut, while HaTHY2 was principally presented in the fat body and haemocytes. The transcript levels of HaTHY2 showed some fluctuation; there was an obvious increase at the metamorphic stage in the integument or fat body. HaTHY was able to be upregulated by 20-hydroxyecdysone or by bacterial and viral challenge. These data suggest that HaTHY is upregulated by the steroid hormone and by responses to microorganism infection.