Molecular cloning, structural analysis, and the developmental expression of vitellogenin in the giant mealworm Zophobas atratus

The giant mealworm Zophobas atratus, which is used for commercial purposes, was officially introduced to Korea. However, physiological information of oocyte maturation for the mass rearing of Z. atratus has not been investigated. Here, we cloned Z. atratus vitellogenin (ZaVg) cDNA and analyzed the expression profiles during development to better understand oocyte maturation in Z. atratus. A multi-alignment and phylogenetic analysis using the deduced amino acids of ZaVg and those of other insect vitellogenins showed that ZaVg has typical Coleopteran Vg features. Consistent with ovarian development, lower expression levels of ZaVg protein in the fat body, hemolymph, and ovary were observed at 0 and 10 days in the adult stage, while higher expression levels of that were detected at 20, 30, and 40 days in the adult stage. These results suggest that the expression level of ZaVg is adult-stage specific, which providing basic information on Vg and oocyte development in Z. atratus.