Transcriptomic Insights into Host Metabolism and Immunity Changes after Parasitization by Leptopilina myrica.

Simple Summary: The intricate coevolution between parasitoids and their hosts has long been a hot research topic. Parasitoids usually manipulate the host's metabolism and immunity to favor the development of their offspring. In this study, we employed RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis to explore the mechanisms of the manipulation strategy of Leptopilina myrica on its host Drosophila melanogaster. A total of 445 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in host larvae at 48 h post parasitization. Among them, a large proportion of DEGs plays essential roles in host nutrition metabolism and immunity. Furthermore, the reliability of our RNA-seq data was confirmed through a qRT-PCR analysis. Our findings help to elucidate the potential mechanism underlying wasp parasitization and provide insights into their applications in biological control and integrated pest management in agriculture. Parasitoids commonly manipulate their host's metabolism and immunity to facilitate their offspring survival, but the mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we deconstructed the manipulation strategy of a newly discovered parasitoid wasp, L. myrica, which parasitizes D. melanogaster. Using RNA-seq, we analyzed transcriptomes of L. myrica-parasitized and non-parasitized Drosophila host larvae. A total of 22.29 Gb and 23.85 Gb of clean reads were obtained from the two samples, respectively, and differential expression analysis identified 445 DEGs. Of them, 304 genes were upregulated and 141 genes were downregulated in parasitized hosts compared with non-parasitized larvae. Based on the functional annotations in the Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) databases, we found that the genes involved in host nutrition metabolism were significantly upregulated, particularly in carbohydrate, amino acid, and lipid metabolism. We also identified 30 other metabolism-related DEGs, including hexokinase, fatty acid synthase, and UDP-glycosyltransferase (Ugt) genes. We observed that five Bomanin genes (Boms) and six antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) were upregulated. Moreover, a qRT-PCR analysis of 12 randomly selected DEGs confirmed the reproducibility and accuracy of the RNA-seq data. Our results provide a comprehensive transcriptomic analysis of how L. myrica manipulates its host, laying a solid foundation for studies on the regulatory mechanisms employed by parasitoid wasps in their hosts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]