Tudor knockdown disrupts ovary development in Bactrocera dorsalis.

One of the main functions of the piRNA pathway is the post-transcriptional silencing of transposable elements in the germline of many species. In insects, proteins belonging to the Tudor superfamily have been implemented to play an important role in this mechanism. In this study, we identified the tudor gene in the oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis, investigated the spatio-temporal expressional profile of the gene, and performed a functional analysis using RNAi. We identified one transcript for a tudor homolog in the B. dorsalis transcriptome, that encodes a protein containing the typical ten Tudor domains and an ATP synthase delta subunit signature. Phylogenetic analysis confirmed the identity of this transcript as a tudor homolog in this species. The expression profile indicated a much higher expression in the adult and pupal stages compared to the larval stages (up to a 60-fold increase), and that the gene was mostly expressed in the ovaries, Malpighian tubules and fat body. Finally, gene knockdown of tudor in B. dorsalis led to clearly underdeveloped ovaries in the female adult and a reduced copulation rate and oviposition, indicating its important role in reproduction. The results of this study shed more light on the role of tudor in ovary development and reproduction. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.