{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,11]],"date-time":"2026-03-11T02:12:43Z","timestamp":1773195163572,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,10]],"date-time":"2026-03-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1773100800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Physiol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      <jats:italic>Aphis gossypii<\/jats:italic>\n                      (cotton\u2013melon aphid) is ranked among the top 10 most destructive agricultural pests worldwide, inflicting substantial damage on a wide range of host plants annually. Wing polyphenism is a key trait that facilitates rapid population expansion and efficient virus transmission. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying wing differentiation in this sap-sucking pest remain poorly understood.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      The differentiation dynamics of newborn\n                      <jats:italic>A<\/jats:italic>\n                      .\n                      <jats:italic>gossypii<\/jats:italic>\n                      nymphs into to alate (winged) or apterous (wingless) morphs was characterized, coupled with pairwise morphological comparisons. The second- and third-instar nymphal stages were identified as two critical turning points for wing morph determination. The number of differentially expressed genes between alate and apterous morphs increased during development, peaking at the fourth-instar nymphal stage before declining in adulthood. Notably, compared with that in the apterous morph, upregulated genes in the alate morph at each developmental stage were consistently enriched in the juvenile hormone (JH) biosynthesis signaling pathway. Four\n                      <jats:italic>JHAMT<\/jats:italic>\n                      (juvenile hormone acid methyltransferase)\u2014encoding the rate-limiting enzyme in JH biosynthesis\u2014were identified in the\n                      <jats:italic>A. gossypii<\/jats:italic>\n                      genome. Among these, only\n                      <jats:italic>JHAMT<\/jats:italic>\n                      1 exhibited significantly elevated expression in the second- and third-instar nymphs of the alate morph, corresponding to the critical period of wing differentiation. Knockdown of\n                      <jats:italic>JHAMT<\/jats:italic>\n                      1 via ds\n                      <jats:italic>JHAMT<\/jats:italic>\n                      1 feeding in third-instar alate nymphs resulted in a 79% reduction in transcript level and significantly inhibited normal wing differentiation in 60.2% of the treated individuals. Notably, wing buds of these affected nymphs failed to develop and eventually disappeared in adulthood, demonstrating that\n                      <jats:italic>JHAMT1<\/jats:italic>\n                      is indispensable for wing morph formation in\n                      <jats:italic>A. gossypii<\/jats:italic>\n                      .\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      This study clarifies the complete differentiation process of\n                      <jats:italic>A. gossypii<\/jats:italic>\n                      into alate or apterous morphs and confirms that\n                      <jats:italic>JHAMT<\/jats:italic>\n                      1, a key regulatory gene in JH biosynthesis, plays a pivotal role in wing differentiation of the alate morph. Given its essential function in wing development,\n                      <jats:italic>JHAMT1<\/jats:italic>\n                      holds strong potential as a molecular target for developing strategies to control outbreaks and spread of the cotton aphid.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fphys.2026.1747260","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,10]],"date-time":"2026-03-10T05:31:24Z","timestamp":1773120684000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["The JHAMT1 gene is necessary for wing differentiation in Aphis gossypii"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Jingli","family":"Lv","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Base of Zhengzhou University, State Key Laboratory of Cotton Bio-Breeding and Integrated Utilization, Institute of Cotton Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences","place":["Anyang, Henan, 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