{"doi":"10.1111/1744-7917.13313","title":"<i>Knickkopf</i> (<i>LmKnk</i>) is required for chitin organization in the foregut of <i>Locusta migratoria</i>","abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>The foregut, located at the front of the digestive tract, serves a vital role in insects by storing and grinding food into small particles. The innermost layer of the foregut known as the chitinous intima, comes into direct contact with the food and acts as a protective barrier against abrasive particles. <jats:italic>Knickkopf</jats:italic> (<jats:italic>Knk</jats:italic>) is required for chitin organization in the chitinous exoskeleton, tracheae and wings. Despite its significance, little is known about the biological function of <jats:italic>Knk</jats:italic> in the foregut. In this study, we found that <jats:italic>LmKnk</jats:italic> was stably expressed in the foregut, and highly expressed before molting in <jats:italic>Locusta migratoria</jats:italic>. To ascertain the biological function of <jats:italic>LmKnk</jats:italic> in the foregut, we synthesized specific double‐stranded <jats:italic>LmKnk</jats:italic> (ds<jats:italic>LmKnk</jats:italic>) and injected it into locusts. Our findings showed a significant decrease in the foregut size, along with reduced food intake and accumulation of residues in the foregut after ds<jats:italic>LmKn</jats:italic>k injection. Morphological observations revealed that newly formed intima became thinner and lacked chitin lamella. Furthermore, fluorescence immunohistochemistry revealed that LmKnk was located in the apical region of new intima and epithelial cells. Taken together, this study provides insights into the biological function of <jats:italic>LmKnk</jats:italic> in the foregut, and identifies the potential target gene for exploring biological pest management strategies.</jats:p>","journal":"Insect Science","year":2024,"id":619064,"datarank":0.26876392038420827,"base_score":1.791759469228055,"endowment":1.791759469228055,"self_citation_contribution":0.26876392038420827,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.26876392038420827,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":5,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":null,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":false,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":null,"fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":1597444,"name":"Jia‐Qi Duan","orcid":null,"position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1597445,"name":"Xiao‐Ming Zhao","orcid":"0000-0003-2237-3417","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1597446,"name":"Mureed Abbas","orcid":null,"position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1597447,"name":"Yu‐Ping Zhang","orcid":null,"position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1597448,"name":"Xue‐Kai Shi","orcid":null,"position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":830074,"name":"Nan Chen","orcid":"0000-0001-8049-1118","position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1597449,"name":"Jian‐Zhen Zhang","orcid":"0000-0003-3400-0044","position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1597443,"name":"Rong‐Rong Yu","orcid":"0009-0005-4624-374X","position":0,"is_corresponding":false}],"reference_count":0,"raw_metadata":{"has_enrichment":true,"resolved":true,"title":"<i>Knickkopf</i> (<i>LmKnk</i>) is required for chitin organization in the foregut of <i>Locusta migratoria</i>","abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>The foregut, located at the front of the digestive tract, serves a vital role in insects by storing and grinding food into small particles. The innermost layer of the foregut known as the chitinous intima, comes into direct contact with the food and acts as a protective barrier against abrasive particles. <jats:italic>Knickkopf</jats:italic> (<jats:italic>Knk</jats:italic>) is required for chitin organization in the chitinous exoskeleton, tracheae and wings. Despite its significance, little is known about the biological function of <jats:italic>Knk</jats:italic> in the foregut. In this study, we found that <jats:italic>LmKnk</jats:italic> was stably expressed in the foregut, and highly expressed before molting in <jats:italic>Locusta migratoria</jats:italic>. To ascertain the biological function of <jats:italic>LmKnk</jats:italic> in the foregut, we synthesized specific double‐stranded <jats:italic>LmKnk</jats:italic> (ds<jats:italic>LmKnk</jats:italic>) and injected it into locusts. Our findings showed a significant decrease in the foregut size, along with reduced food intake and accumulation of residues in the foregut after ds<jats:italic>LmKn</jats:italic>k injection. Morphological observations revealed that newly formed intima became thinner and lacked chitin lamella. Furthermore, fluorescence immunohistochemistry revealed that LmKnk was located in the apical region of new intima and epithelial cells. Taken together, this study provides insights into the biological function of <jats:italic>LmKnk</jats:italic> in the foregut, and identifies the potential target gene for exploring biological pest management strategies.</jats:p>","is_dataset_classified":null,"base_score":1.791759469228055,"endowment":1.791759469228055,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"views":0,"has_version_chain":false,"is_dataset":false,"is_oa":false,"pmid":"38214184","pmcid":null,"openalex_id":"https://openalex.org/W4390791799","authors":[],"funders":[{"funder_name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China - State Grid Corporation Joint Fund for Smart Grid","grant_id":"31801749","title":null},{"funder_name":"The Department of Science and technology in Guangdong Province","grant_id":"2019B090905003","title":null},{"funder_name":"Scientific and Technological Innovation Programs of Higher Education Institutions in Shanxi province","grant_id":"2019L0796","title":null}],"total_grants":3,"fwci":0.8119,"citation_percentile":0.68024078,"influential_citations":0,"citation_trend":[{"year":2024,"count":3},{"year":2025,"count":2}],"oa_status":"closed","license":"http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor","oa_locations":[{"url":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1744-7917.13313","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1744-7917.13313","host_type":"journal"},{"url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38214184","host_type":"repository"}],"fields_of_study":["Studies on Chitinases and Chitosanases","Insect symbiosis and bacterial influences","Invertebrate Immune Response Mechanisms","Animals","Locusta migratoria","Chitin","Insect Proteins","Gastrointestinal Tract","Molting"],"mesh_terms":["Animals","Chitin","Molting","Insect Proteins","Gastrointestinal Tract","Locusta migratoria"],"keywords":["Foregut","Biology","Hindgut","Chitin","Lamella (surface anatomy)","Anatomy","Midgut","Cell biology","Botany","Larva","Biochemistry","Biological function","RNA interference","Intima","Knickkopf","Chitin Organization"],"sdg_mappings":[{"sdg_number":0,"sdg_label":"Zero hunger"}],"linked_datasets":[],"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"database_accessions":[],"source":"live","citation_network_status":"fetched"},"created_at":"2026-08-03T05:54:58.452423Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}