Expression pattern and pharmacological characterisation of two novel alternative splice variants of the glutamate‐gated chloride channel in the small brown planthopper Laodelphax striatellus

BACKGROUND Glutamate‐gated chloride channels (GluCl) mediate fast inhibitory neurotransmission in invertebrate nervous systems. Although only one GluCl gene was presented in insects, it showed diverse alternative splicing that was speculated could affect channel function and pharmacology. RESULTS In this study, we isolated GluCl cDNAs from adults of the small brown planthopper (SBPH) Laodelphax striatellus and showed that six L. striatellus GluCl variants (LsGluCl‐AS, LsGluCl‐BS, LsGluCl‐CS, LsGluCl‐AL, LsGluCl‐BL, LsGluCl‐CL) were present in the SBPH. The expression patterns of six variants differed among developmental stages (egg, first‐ to fifth‐instar nymphs, male and female adults) and among the body parts (head, thorax, abdomen, leg) of the female adult SBPH. All the transcripts were abundant in the head of the adult. When expressed in African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis, oocytes, the two functional variants (LsGluCl‐AS, LsGluCl‐AL) had similar EC50 and IC50 values for L‐glutamate and channel blockers picrotoxinin and fipronil. CONCLUSION This study represents a comprehensive molecular, expression and pharmacological characterisation of GluCl in the SBPH. These findings should be useful in providing more opportunities to discover novel insect control chemicals. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry