LAUSR

Abstract Calliptamus italicus and Gomphocerus sibiricus are indicator species in Xinjiang's low-altitude (700–1,900 m) and high-altitude (2,000–3,400 m) grasslands, respectively. C. italicus is tolerant to high-temperature stress, with its semilethal temperature (LT50) being 10.5°C higher than that of G. sibiricus. The two locust species were subjected to high-temperature stress to explore the molecular mechanisms and differences in high temperature tolerance between the two locust species. Next, the next generation sequencing (NGS) data were mapped to reference transcripts obtained using single molecule real Time (SMRT) sequencing to construct a nonparameter transcriptome. The transcriptomic response of these two locust species displayed different patterns. C. italicus had 126 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), with 59 and 67 being significantly up-regulated and down-regulated, respectively. The heat shock protein (Hsp) genes were highly expressed upon two locust species exposure to high-temperature stress, with Hsp70 being expressed the most. G. sibiricus had 86 DEGs, of which 45 were significantly up-regulated and 41 significantly down-regulated. In addition, the expression of the key enzyme encoding gene Myo-inositol oxygenase (MIOX) in inositol degradation was the highest in G. sibiricus. In the KEGG pathway, the biological processes and metabolic pathways were the most enriched pathways in C. italicus and G. sibiricus, respectively. Moreover, the quantitative fluorescence results were consistent with the transcriptome results, implying that the transcriptome results were accurate. The findings in this study provide valuable information for future research exploring the evolution mechanisms of heat resistance in C. italicus and G. sibiricus.