Molecular cloning, expression analysis and functional confirmation of ecdysone receptor and ultraspiracle from the Colorado potato beetle Leptinotarsa decemlineata.

cDNA cloning of ecdysone receptor (EcR) and ultraspiracle (USP) of the coleopteran Colorado potato beetle Leptinotarsa decemlineata (LdEcR and LdUSP) was conducted. Amino-acid sequences of the proteins deduced from cDNA sequences showed striking homology to those of other insects, especially the coleopteran yellow mealworm Tenebrio molitor. Northern hybridization analysis showed a 12.4-kb message for the LdEcR A-isoform, a 10.5-kb message for the LdEcR B1-isoform and a 5.7-kb message for the LdUSP, in fat body, gut, integument, testis and ovaries. In developmental profile studies, expression of both the LdEcR and LdUSP transcript in integument changed dramatically. In gel mobility shift assays, in vitro translated LdEcR alone bound weakly to the pal1 ecdysone response element, although LdUSP alone did not, and this binding was dramatically enhanced by the addition of LdUSP. LdEcR/LdUSP complex also showed significant binding to an ecdysone agonist, ponasterone A (K(D) = 2.8 nm), while LdEcR alone showed only weak binding (K(D) = 73.4 nm), and LdUSP alone did not show any binding. The receptor-binding affinity of various ecdysone agonists to LdEcR/LdUSP was not correlated to their larvicidal activity to L. decemlineata. From these results, it was suggested that multiple factors including the receptor binding affinity are related to the determination of the larvicidal activity of nonsteroidal ecdysone agonists in L. decemlineata.