Transcriptome characterization and gene expression analysis related to immune response in Gynaephora qinghaiensis pupae

Gynaephora qinghaiensis is a pest on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) that has led to substantial destruction of grassland vegetation. Its pupae are also natural hosts of parasitic wasp. Sexual dimorphism in immune responses is prevalent in vertebrates and invertebrates. However, sexual dimorphism in immune responses of insects, particularly G. qinghaiensis, is poorly understood at the transcriptional level. Here, we performed transcriptome sequencing in male and female pupae of G. qinghaiensis. A total of 118,357,040 clean reads were obtained and assembled into 114,944 unigenes. To explore the difference of immune responses in pupae of both sexes (male and female) of G. qinghaiensis. based on transcriptional level, we characterized the expression profiles of candidate transcripts in the two sexes of G. qinghaiensis. A total of 3,469 unigenes (1,888 up-regulated and 1,581 down-regulated genes) were differentially expressed in pupae of both sexes. Among the differentially expressed genes (DEGs), 263 unigenes related to immune responses were found in the two sexes in G. qinghaiensis; of these, 202 were up-regulated and 61 were down-regulated in the female pupae compared to male pupae. This indicates there were some differences in the expression of immune-related genes between male and female G. qinghaiensis pupae. Therefore, we speculated that the differences in immune responses also likely exsited in pupae of both sexes. Our report provides a valuable genomic resource for further studies of Gynaephora and improves our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying immunological differences between male and female insects.