{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,24]],"date-time":"2025-09-24T00:06:23Z","timestamp":1758672383604,"version":"3.44.0"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"Wiley","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,22]],"date-time":"2025-09-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1758499200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/termsAndConditions#vor"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["32070501","32170521"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["32070501","32170521"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Insect Science"],"abstract":"Abstract<\/jats:title>Innexins are the main components of gap junctions in invertebrates. However, the evolution and function of these in insects remain elusive. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that insect innexin<\/jats:italic> genes originated from one ancestral gene, and they were divided into 6 clusters. Totally, 8 innexin<\/jats:italic> (inx<\/jats:italic>) genes were identified from Tribolium castaneum<\/jats:italic>. These genes were highly expressed in different stages, including inx1<\/jats:italic> and inx7<\/jats:italic> in late pupae, inx2<\/jats:italic>, inx3<\/jats:italic>, and inx7\u2010like2<\/jats:italic> in early pupae, shaking\u2010B<\/jats:italic> and inx7\u2010like1<\/jats:italic> at postembryonic stages, and inx4\/5\/6<\/jats:italic> at early embryos and late adults. Tissue expression analysis indicated they had high transcription in distinct tissues, containing inx1<\/jats:italic> and inx7\u2010like1<\/jats:italic> in the wing and gut of late pupae, inx7<\/jats:italic> in the gut and central nervous system of late pupae, shaking\u2010B<\/jats:italic> in most tissues except wings of late pupae, inx2<\/jats:italic> and inx3<\/jats:italic> in all tissues of early pupae, inx7\u2010like2<\/jats:italic> in the gut and fat body of early pupae, and inx4\/5\/6<\/jats:italic> in the ovary of late adults. RNA interference (RNAi) experiments revealed that inx2<\/jats:italic> and inx4\/5\/6<\/jats:italic> were required for metamorphosis, fertility, and ovarian development, inx3<\/jats:italic> functioned during eclosion, inx1<\/jats:italic>, inx7<\/jats:italic>, and inx7\u2010like1<\/jats:italic> played important roles in embryonic development, and shaking\u2010B<\/jats:italic> was critical for adult survival. Furthermore, silencing inx2<\/jats:italic>, inx4\/5\/6<\/jats:italic>, inx7<\/jats:italic>, or shaking\u2010B<\/jats:italic> downregulated the expression of vitellogenin<\/jats:italic> (Vg<\/jats:italic>) and Vg<\/jats:italic> receptor in female adults. These results indicated that innexin<\/jats:italic> genes had crucial roles in the metamorphosis, fertility, and embryonic development of insects and provided the theoretical basis for developing inx2<\/jats:italic>, inx3<\/jats:italic>, and inx4\/5\/6<\/jats:italic> as potential targets of RNAi to control pests.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1111\/1744-7917.70170","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,23]],"date-time":"2025-09-23T05:00:57Z","timestamp":1758603657000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Innexin genes function in the development, metamorphosis, and reproduction of Tribolium castaneum<\/i>"],"prefix":"10.1111","author":[{"given":"Yusi","family":"Li","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Sciences Nanjing Normal University Nanjing 210023 China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xiaoqiao","family":"Huang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Sciences Nanjing Normal University Nanjing 210023 China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Meiqian","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Sciences Nanjing Normal University Nanjing 210023 China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4553-0721","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chengjun","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Sciences Nanjing Normal University Nanjing 210023 China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4544-4532","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bin","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Sciences Nanjing Normal University Nanjing 210023 China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_7_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"15318","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1202369109","article-title":"Rescue of Notch signaling in cells incapable of GDP\u2010L\u2010fucose synthesis by gap junction transfer of GDP\u2010L\u2010fucose in Drosophila","volume":"109","author":"Ayukawa T.","year":"2012","journal-title":"Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5703","DOI":"10.1016\/j.febslet.2007.11.030","article-title":"Innexins form two types of channels","volume":"581","author":"Bao L.","year":"2007","journal-title":"FEBS Letters"},{"key":"e_1_2_7_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"706","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ygeno.2003.09.025","article-title":"The mammalian pannexin family is homologous to the invertebrate innexin gap junction 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