title: Isolation and characterization of the cDNA encoding the prophenoloxidase of fall webworm, hyphantria cunea.
abstract: Two kinds of cDNA clones encoding prophenoloxidases (ProPO; zymogen of phenoloxidase (monophenol, L-dopa: oxygen oxydoreductase, EC 1.14.18.1)) were isolated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by screening of cDNA library that was prepared from whole larvae of the fall webworm, Hyphantria cunea (Lepidoptera, Arctiidae). The cDNAs encode 681 and 697 amino acids with molecular masses of 78.2 and 80.2 kDa, respectively. Deduced amino acid sequence homology between the two H. cunea ProPOs are only 49% whereas the homology against other insect ProPOs ranged from about 40 to 72%. The phylogenic analysis showed that the insect ProPOs are grouped mainly into two families. A putative proteolytic cleavage site for enzyme activation was identical to other insect ProPOs. The conserved copper binding sites were 84-62% homologous to arthropod ProPOs. Two additional highly conserved regions were found in the carboxy terminal. Furthermore, like other insect prophenoloxidases, hydrophobic signal peptide sequences were absent in the deduced ProPOs from H. cunea. Southern blot analysis indicated that the H. cunea ProPO1 is present as a single copy in the genome. Northern blot analysis showed that the expression of the ProPO genes were concentrated in mid-instar larvae, but were much lower in other developmental stages.
authors.affiliation: Insect Resources Laboratory, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Taejon, Korea.
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: S W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: P T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Brey
authors.forename: H Y
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites; D004156:Catechol Oxidase / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D004792:Enzyme Precursors / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D007915:Lepidoptera / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D008970:Molecular Weight; D010802:Phylogeny; D021382:Protein Sorting Signals / Q000737:chemistry; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D004792:Enzyme Precursors; D021382:Protein Sorting Signals; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; C038451:pro-phenoloxidase; D004156:Catechol Oxidase