{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,19]],"date-time":"2026-04-19T08:36:25Z","timestamp":1776587785364,"version":"3.51.2"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,2,14]],"date-time":"2024-02-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1707868800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"China Agriculture Research System of MOF and MARA","award":["CARS-27"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CARS-27"]}]},{"name":"China Agriculture Research System of MOF and MARA","award":["224200510018"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["224200510018"]}]},{"name":"China Agriculture Research System of MOF and MARA","award":["212102110476"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["212102110476"]}]},{"name":"leading talent in scientific and technological innovation in Zhongyuan","award":["CARS-27"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CARS-27"]}]},{"name":"leading talent in scientific and technological innovation in Zhongyuan","award":["224200510018"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["224200510018"]}]},{"name":"leading talent in scientific and technological innovation in Zhongyuan","award":["212102110476"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["212102110476"]}]},{"name":"Scientific and Technological Key Project in Henan province","award":["CARS-27"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CARS-27"]}]},{"name":"Scientific and Technological Key Project in Henan province","award":["224200510018"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["224200510018"]}]},{"name":"Scientific and Technological Key Project in Henan province","award":["212102110476"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["212102110476"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Insects"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Eusocial insects have evolved specific defensive strategies to protect their colonies. In termite colonies, soldiers perform a colony-level defense by displaying mechanical biting, head-banging and mandible opening\u2013closing behaviors. However, few studies have been reported on the factors modulating defensive behaviors in termites. Owing to JH (juvenile hormone) being involved in soldier differentiation, JH was speculated to affect defensive behaviors in termite soldiers. To determine the effect of JH on the defensive behaviors of termite soldiers, we performed a JHA-feeding and RaSsp1-silencing experiment and then tested the changes in defense-related behaviors, alarm pheromones and key JH signaling genes. The observed result was that after feeding workers with JHA, soldiers displayed the following: (1) decreased biting events and increased head-banging events; (2) a reduced expression of RaSsp1 and increased expression of Met (methoprene-tolerant, the nuclear receptor of JH) and Kr-h1 (the JH-inducible transcription factor Kr\u00fcppel homolog 1); and (3) a decreased concentration of alarm pheromones, including \u03b1-pinene, \u03b2-pinene and limonene (+, \u2212). Further study showed that soldiers silenced for RaSsp1 also exhibited (1) decreased biting events and increased head-banging events and (2) increased expression of Met and Kr-h1. In addition, soldiers stimulated by the alarm pheromone limonene displayed an increase in the frequency of mandible opening\u2013closing and biting behavior. All of these results show that JHA influenced the defensive behaviors of termite soldiers, possibly via downregulating RaSsp1 expression, up-regulating Met and Kr-h1 and stimulating the secretion of alarm pheromones, suggesting that the JH pathway plays important roles in modulating social behaviors in termite colonies.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/insects15020130","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,2,14]],"date-time":"2024-02-14T06:59:26Z","timestamp":1707893966000},"page":"130","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Juvenile Hormone Involved in the Defensive Behaviors of Soldiers in Termite Reticulitermes aculabialis"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Yiying","family":"Li","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Science, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Letong","family":"Yin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Science, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ruiyao","family":"Guo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Science, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yunliang","family":"Du","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Science, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Bo","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Science, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Long","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Plant Protection, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Zhenya","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Plant Protection, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Wei","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Science, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Guozhi","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Science, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Shiheng","family":"An","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Plant Protection, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xinming","family":"Yin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Plant Protection, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lijuan","family":"Su","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life Science, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,2,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"265","DOI":"10.1007\/s10340-022-01495-3","article-title":"microRNAs Shape Social Immunity: A Potential Target for Biological Control of the Termite Reticulitermes chinensis","volume":"96","author":"Liu","year":"2023","journal-title":"J. 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