Genome-Wide Identification and Analysis of Family Members with Juvenile Hormone Binding Protein Domains in Spodoptera frugiperda

Simple Summary: Spodoptera frugiperda of the family Noctuidae in the order Lepidoptera, is native to the Americas. It is characterized by its polyphagous nature and high reproductive capacity. S. frugiperda has caused significant socio-economic losses in many countries, primarily affecting Poaceae crops such as maize, rice, wheat, and sorghum. This study aims to analyze the members, differentiation, structure, and function of the JHBP gene family in S. frugiperda through bioinformatics approaches. Subsequently, we utilize real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) to investigate the expression profiles of this gene family across different developmental stages and various tissues of S. frugiperda. The purpose of this analysis is to elucidate the potential roles of these genes, providing key target genes for future functional validation through gene knockdown and RNA interference (RNAi) techniques. This research offers insights that could contribute to the development of new pesticides. Juvenile hormone binding proteins (JHBPs) are carrier proteins that bind to juvenile hormone (JH) to form a complex, which then transports the JH to target organs to regulate insect growth and development. Through bioinformatics analysis, 76 genes encoding JHBP in S. frugiperda were identified from whole genome data (SfJHBP1-SfJHBP76). These genes are unevenly distributed across 8 chromosomes, with gene differentiation primarily driven by tandem duplication. Most SfJHBP proteins are acidic, and their secondary structures are mainly composed of alpha-helices and random coils. Gene structure and conserved motif analyses reveal significant variations in the number of coding sequences (CDS) and a high diversity in amino acid sequences. Phylogenetic analysis classified the genes into four subfamilies, with a notable presence of directly homologous genes between S. frugiperda and S. litura, suggesting a close relationship between the two species. RNA-seq data from public databases and qPCR of selected SfJHBP genes show that SfJHBP20, SfJHBP50, and SfJHBP69 are highly expressed at most developmental stages, while SfJHBP8 and SfJHBP14 exhibit specific expression during the pupal stage and in the midgut. These findings provide a theoretical basis for future studies on the biological functions of this gene family.