A new aminopeptidase from diamondback moth provides evidence for a gene duplication event in Lepidoptera.
We screened a midgut cDNA library from diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella, with a probe generated using sequence information from an aminopeptidase N gene from Manduca sexta (MsAPN-1). The sequence recovered (PxAPN-A) encodes a protein of 988 resides with a 60% sequence identity to MsAPN-1. The two proteins share a signal peptide which directs processing by the endoplasmic reticulum, a C-terminal hydrophobic region satisfying the criterion for a GPI anchor and cleavage, and the possibility of an O-glycosylated rigid stalk attached to the GPI anchor. PxAPN-A is more closely related to MsAPN-1 than it is to another aminopeptidase recently reported from P. xylostella. Sequence comparisons with other species suggests that at least one aminopeptidase gene duplication occurred in an ancestral lepidopteran.
Chang
W X
WX
Department of Entomology, University of Hawaii, Honolulu 96822, USA.
Gahan
L J
LJ
Tabashnik
B E
BE
Heckel
D G
DG
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000626:Aminopeptidases / Q000235:genetics*; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D020440:Gene Duplication; D006031:Glycosylation; D019476:Insect Proteins; D007915:Lepidoptera / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009036:Moths / Q000201:enzymology*
D018076:DNA, Complementary; D019476:Insect Proteins; D000626:Aminopeptidases