Abstract
Adenine nucleotide translocase (ANT) is a nuclear-coded mitochondrial protein that exchanges ATP for ADP across the mitochondrial inner membrane. Most organisms possess several ANT paralogues, and functional differences among these paralogues remain largely unknown. In the present study, we identified ANT paralogue genes in hemipteran species: the stink bug, bean bug, pea aphid, and Japanese mealybug. The ANT paralogues of the stink bug, Plautia stali, are encoded by two genes, PsANTI1 and PsANTI2. PsANTI1 was constantly expressed at all developmental stages and in all tissues analyzed. In contrast, the expression levels of PsANTI2 were undetectable in first instar nymphs and adult antennae. Gene silencing of each paralogue in P. stali revealed that PsANTI1 plays an important role in homeostasis, whereas the depletion of PsANTI2 failed to result in lethality. Thus, we concluded that PsANTI1 is a good target gene for developing novel pesticides.