Comparative transcriptome analysis of differentially expressed genes in the ovary and testis and identification of transformer-2 gene of Athetis dissimilis

Background Insects have developed a variety of sex-determining regulatory mechanisms throughout their evolution. Not only do different insects use different genes and regulatory mechanisms for sex differentiation, but different subspecies populations of the same insect species can have different sex determination mechanisms. We analyzed differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from the ovary and testis transcriptomes of A. dissimilis . The function of DEGs was analyzed from various databases. The results of this research will aid in the understanding of the sex-determination mechanisms of this species. Results A total of 11,065 DEGs between the ovary and testis were identified, of which 6,685 genes were up-regulated and 4,380 genes were down-regulated in testis. 6,656 DEGs were annotated in NR (6,616, 99.40%), GO (1,484, 22.30%), COG (1,696, 25.48%), KEGG (2,483, 37.30%), Swiss-Prot (3,077, 46.23%), Pfam (3,967, 59.60%), and eggNOG (5,808, 87.26%). A Adistra-2 (525 bp) gene was obtained from the transcriptome of A. dissimilis , and sequence alignment with other related species revealed a highly conserved RRM domain. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the Adistra-2 protein is a close relative of the lepidopterous tra-2 protein. The temporal and spatial expression pattern of the Adistra-2 showed that it is more abundant during embryonic development than other stages, and its expression was higher in ovaries than in testes. Conclusions We analyzed DEGs from the ovary and testis transcriptomes of Athetis dissimilis . The characteristics of Adistra-2 gene were identified and analyzed. This work provides a theoretical reference for the sex differentiation and genetic manipulation of this insect.