Research on response mechanism of female Habrobracon hebetor to deltamethrin stress

To elucidate the response mechanism of Habrobracon hebetor under deltamethrin stress, the gene expression patterns of H. hebetor (denoted as DM0, DM30, and DM50 groups, respectively) with different dosages of deltamethrin (0, 0.788, and 0.947 mg/m²) by using the transcriptome sequencing technology were analyzed. RNA-sep analysis showed that 1 825 and 3 127 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in the DM30 vs DM0 and DM50 vs DM0 treatment groups, respectively. A total of 129 genes were commonly upregulated and 249 genes were commonly downregulated in both comparison groups. GO functional enrichment analysis revealed that DEGs were significantly enriched in pathways related to peroxisome, fatty acid synthesis and metabolism, insect hormone catabolism, and nervous system processes. KEGG functional enrichment analysis indicated that DEGs were primarily involved in energy metabolism, cuticle composition, fatty acid biosynthesis and metabolism, and insect hormone synthesis pathways. RT-qPCR was used to analyze the expression levels of eight differentially expressed genes which was related to cytochrome P450, fatty acid metabolic enzyme, glucuronosyltransferase and α-amylase. The results showed that the expression trends of these genes detected by RT-qPCR were consistent with those from RNA-sep analysis. This study reveals the response mechanism of female H. hebetor to deltamethrin stress, providing a reference for further understanding the adaptation mechanisms of H. hebetor to pesticide environments and coordinating its effecient control of stored-grain insects with deltamethrin.