Histone acetylation is a vital mechanism for the post-translational 
modifications of chromatin components. Histone acetyltransferases (HATs) are 
critical elements that determine histone acetylation and regulate chromatin 
dynamics and gene expression. While histone acetyltransferases have been well 
studied in mammals and Drosophila melanogaster, information from agriculturally 
important insect pests is still limited. In our effort to understand the 
epigenetic mechanisms regulating development in the brown planthopper, 
Nilaparvata lugens (Stål) (Hemiptera: Geometroidea), a major rice pest in many 
parts of Asia, two full-length cDNA sequences encoding HAT members of the GNAT 
and MYST family, namely NlElp3 and NlMof, respectively, were isolated and 
structurally and phylogenetically characterized. The NlElp3 contains an open 
reading frame (ORF) of 1656bp encoding a protein of 551 amino acids. The NlMof 
contains a 1353bp ORF encoding a protein of 450 amino acids. Sequence analysis 
showed that NlElp3 contains GNAT-type HAT domain and Radical SAM domain, and 
NlMof contains chromodomain and MOZ-SAS acetyltransferase domain. Multiple 
sequence alignments showed that NlElp3 and NlMof have high amino acid sequence 
identity with other insect homologues. Expression analysis of the NlElp3 and 
NlMof revealed significant differences in mRNA expression levels among N. lugens 
developmental stages, suggesting that HAT activities of NlElp3 and NlMof may be 
controlled, at least in part, by their developmental regulation. Remarkably, the 
mRNA expression levels of NlElp3 and NlMof in female adults were significantly 
higher than that in male adults, supporting an important role for both genes in 
female reproductive function in N. lugens.