Rab proteins constitute the largest family of small GTPases,which play piv-otal roles in intracellular membrane trafficking in all eukaryotes.A number of Rab genes have been identified in eukaryotes;however,very little information about these genes has been reported in insects.In the current study,for the first time we identified and characterized 27 Rab family genes from Locusta migratoria.Phylogenetic analysis and comparison of domain architecture indicated that Rab family genes are highly conserved among insect species.Tissue-dependent expression profiles indicated that expression of Rab genes was highest in the ovary,except for LmRab3,which was most highly expressed in hemolymph.The biological function of each Rab gene was investigated using RNA in-terference(RNAi).Double-stranded RNA targeting each Rab gene was injected into the hemocoel of nymphs and revealed that suppression of two Rab genes(LmRab5 and Lm-Rab11A)caused 100％mortality.In addition,nymphs injected with dsLmRab5 exhibited severe phenotypic defects in the gastric caeca and midgut,while dsLmRab11A arrested the molting process.We then applied the RNAi of RNAi technique to test if silencing either of these two genes would affect the suppression of the lethal giant larvae(LmLgl)reporter gene and found that suppression of LmRab5 diminished the RNAi efficiency of LmLgl,whereas suppression of LmRab11A enhanced RNAi efficiency of LmLgl.These results indicate that Rab genes contribute differently to RNAi efficiency in different tissues.Our study provides a foundation for further functional investigations of Rab genes and their contributions to RNAi efficiency in L.migratoria.

Mureed Abbas;Yun-He Fan;Xue-Kai Shi;Lu Gao;Yan-Li Wang;Tao Li;Anastasia M.W.Cooper;Kristopher Silver;Kun Yan Zhu;Jian-Zhen Zhang

Institute of Applied Biology,Shanxi University,Taiyuan,China;College of Life Science,Shanxi University,Taiyuan,China;Department of Entomology,Kansas State University,Manhattan,Kansas,USA

中国昆虫科学（英文版）

[1]Mureed Abbas;Yun-He Fan;Xue-Kai Shi;Lu Gao;Yan-Li Wang;Tao Li;Anastasia M.W.Cooper;Kristopher Silver;Kun Yan Zhu;Jian-Zhen Zhang-.Identification of Rab family genes and functional analyses of LmRab5and LmRab11A in the development and RNA interference of Locusta migratoria)[J].中国昆虫科学（英文版）,2022(02):320-332

LmRab5and,LmRab11A,piv,otal,LmRab3,hemocoel,LmRab5,Rab11A,dsLmRab5,dsLmRab11A,LmLgl

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