The team of Academician Kangle reveals a new mechanism of piRNAs regulation that determines the changes in the number of offspring of migratory locusts

Many animals in nature adjust their reproductive strategies according to changes in the environment and produce different numbers of offspring

The migratory locust is an ideal model for studying density-dependent reproductive strategies

Recently, the latest research results of the team of Academician Kang Le revealed the molecular mechanism of migratory locusts adapting to changes in population density and resulting in changes in the number of offspring

Why did such a sequence-specific pre-mRNA splicing pattern mediated by the Piwi/piRNAs pathway develop in the migratory locust reproductive system? By using the newly developed LACE-seq technology for the study of the interaction between small amounts of intracellular RNA and proteins, the researchers found that in the tip of the locust egg tubule, a large number of mRNA precursors closely related to oocyte division and development are combined together in Liwi1.

Are pre-mRNA splicing patterns involving Piwi/piRNAs common in the animal kingdom? The researchers further verified the interaction of Piwi protein and spliceosome protein and the generality of piRNAs-mediated mRNA splicing mechanism in Drosophila and mouse germline (Figure 2)

This latest study follows the discovery by the team of Academician Kang Le that piRNAs are the most differentially expressed small RNAs in gregarious and scattered migratory locusts (Wei et al, Genome Biology, 2009).

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