{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,29]],"date-time":"2025-12-29T13:48:01Z","timestamp":1767016081673,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,19]],"date-time":"2025-03-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1742342400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["32360685","321QN178","224MS006"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["32360685","321QN178","224MS006"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Hainan Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China","award":["32360685","321QN178","224MS006"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["32360685","321QN178","224MS006"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>As a tropomyosin-binding component, troponin T (TnT) is essential for the Ca2+ regulation of striated muscles\u2019 contraction and locomotion activity, but its impacts on the growth and development of insects have rarely been reported. In this study, TnT was identified and functionally characterized in Tribolium castaneum by RNA interference (RNAi) and transcriptome analysis. The TnT of T. castaneum contained a 1152 bp open reading frame encoding 383 amino acids. It displayed the highest expression in late pupae and was highly expressed in the integument and CNS. Both the larval and early pupal injection of dsTnT led to 100% cumulative mortality before the pupal\u2013adult transition. Late pupal RNAi caused 26.01 \u00b1 4.29% pupal mortality; the survivors successfully became adults, but 49.71 \u00b1 6.51% died in 10 days with a dried and shriveled abdomen, poorly developed reproductive system and no offspring. Additionally, RNA sequencing results indicated that key ecdysteroid and juvenile hormone biosynthesis genes (CYP314A1, aldehyde dehydrogenase family 3 member B1 and farnesol dehydrogenase) were affected, as well as several cuticle protein, nutrition metabolism and immune-related genes, suggesting that TnT may play prominent roles in development, metabolism and reproduction by affecting these pathways. This study could provide a brand-new target gene in the RNAi strategy for pest control.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms26062786","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,20]],"date-time":"2025-03-20T05:03:59Z","timestamp":1742447039000},"page":"2786","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Identification and Characterization of Troponin T Associated with Development, Metabolism and Reproduction in Tribolium castaneum"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"26","author":[{"given":"Wenzhuo","family":"Li","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Green Prevention and Control of Tropical Plant Diseases and Pests, Ministry of Education, School of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, Hainan University, Danzhou 570228, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yaning","family":"Sun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Green Prevention and Control of Tropical Plant Diseases and Pests, Ministry of Education, School of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, Hainan University, Danzhou 570228, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yuanye","family":"Liang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Green Prevention and Control of Tropical Plant Diseases and Pests, Ministry of Education, School of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, Hainan University, Danzhou 570228, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yifan","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Green Prevention and Control of Tropical Plant Diseases and Pests, Ministry of Education, School of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, Hainan University, Danzhou 570228, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yongmei","family":"Fan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Green Prevention and Control of Tropical Plant Diseases and Pests, Ministry of Education, School of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, Hainan University, Danzhou 570228, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mengmeng","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Green Prevention and Control of Tropical Plant Diseases and Pests, Ministry of Education, School of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, Hainan University, Danzhou 570228, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ranfeng","family":"Sun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Green Prevention and Control of Tropical Plant Diseases and Pests, Ministry of Education, School of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, Hainan University, Danzhou 570228, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4641-5047","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jia","family":"Xie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Green Prevention and Control of Tropical Plant Diseases and Pests, Ministry of Education, School of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, Hainan University, Danzhou 570228, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"117","DOI":"10.1002\/cm.21281","article-title":"Molecular evolution of troponin I and a role of its N-terminal extension in nematode locomotion","volume":"73","author":"Barnes","year":"2016","journal-title":"Cytoskeleton"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"33","DOI":"10.1023\/A:1006991324553","article-title":"Calcium ion regulation of muscle contraction: The regulatory role of troponin T","volume":"190","author":"Ohtsuki","year":"1999","journal-title":"Mol. 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