The involvement of heat shock protein and cytochrome P450 genes in response to UV-A exposure in the beetle Tribolium castaneum

Sunlight is an important environmental factor that affects all living organisms on Earth. Ultraviolet A (UV-A) is one of the many frequency bands found in sunlight. Many animals use UV-A to attain visual cues, for example, in foraging and mate selection. However, UV-A can also induce damage, such as oxidative stress, DNA lesions and apoptosis. In the present study, we investigated the effects of UV-A on the survival, fecundity and expression profiles of several stress-responsive genes belonging to the heat shock protein (Hsp) and the cytochrome CYP6BQ families from the adult red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae). The results showed that short-term UV-A exposure (365 nm, < 4 h) did not influence the survival or fecundity of the beetles; however, Hsp27, Hsp68, Hsp83, CYP6BQ4 and CYP6BQ8 mRNA levels significantly increased during the first 2 h of UV-A exposure. Among them, Hsp68 was the most highly up-regulated, increasing by 8.9-fold. These results indicate that these genes may participate in the defense against harmful UV-A radiation. In addition, we investigated the potential transcription factor binding motifs (TFBMs) in the promoter sequences of genes induced in similar pattern from the Hsp and P450 gene families; the results indicated that, these motifs are highly homologous to environmental stress transcription factor binding sites in mammals. Our experiments revealed that UV-A irradiation could influence the expression profile of stress-responsive genes, such as Hsps and P450s, which have universal TFBMs, and that these genes may be involved in reducing the ecological challenges posed by irradiation. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.