RNAi of the elastomeric protein resilin reduces jump velocity and resilience to damage in locusts

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Rogers, Stephen M.; Cullen, Darron A.; Labonte, David; Sutton, Gregory P.; Vanden Broeck, Jozef J. M.; Burrows, Malcolm
• 署名单位: University of Cambridge; University of Lincoln; KU Leuven; University of Hull; Imperial College London; University of Cambridge
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-14348
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2415625121
• 发表日期: 2025-01-07
• 关键词: xenopsylla-cheopis; kicking movements; feedback loops; desert locust; leg movements; motor; specializations; mechanism; muscle; biomechanics

摘要

Resilin, an elastomeric protein with remarkable physical properties that outperforms synthetic rubbers, is a near- ubiquitous feature of the power amplification mechanisms used by jumping insects. Catapult- like mechanisms, which incorporate elastic energy stores formed from a composite of stiff cuticle and resilin, are frequently used by insects to translate slow muscle contractions into rapid- release recoil movements. The precise role of resilin in these jumping mechanisms remains unclear, however. We used RNAi to reduce resilin deposition in the principal energy- storing springs of the desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria) before measuring jumping performance. Knockdown reduced the amount of resilin- associated fluorescence in the semilunar processes (SLPs) by 44% and reduced the cross- sectional area of the tendons of the hind leg extensor- tibiae muscle by in knockdown animals, which could be explained by a change in the extrinsic stiffness of the extensor- tibiae tendon caused by the decrease in its cross- sectional area. Second, locusts as tested by electrical stimulation of the extensor muscle, but none in controls. Third, knockdown locusts exhibited a greater decline in distance jumped when made to jump in rapid succession than did controls. We conclude that stiff cuticle acts as the structures against breakage from repeated use.