The family of major royal jelly proteins and its evolution.
A cDNA encoding a new member of the gene family of major royal jelly proteins (MRJPs) from the honeybee, Apis mellifera, was isolated and sequenced. Royal jelly (RJ) is a secretion of the cephalic glands of nurse bees. The origin and biological function of the protein component (12.5%, w/w) of RJ is unknown. We show that the MRJP gene family encodes a group of closely related proteins that share a common evolutionary origin with the yellow protein of Drosophila melanogaster. Yellow protein functions in cuticle pigmentation in D. melanogaster. The MRJPs appear to have evolved a novel nutritional function in the honeybee.
Albert
S
S
Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Institute of Chemistry, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, SK-842 38 Bratislava, Slovakia.
Bhattacharya
D
D
Klaudiny
J
J
Schmitzová
J
J
Simúth
J
J
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001516:Bees / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D004330:Drosophila / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005227:Fatty Acids; D005260:Female; D017344:Genes, Insect; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D010802:Phylogeny; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D000099219:Royal Jelly
D018076:DNA, Complementary; D005227:Fatty Acids; D019476:Insect Proteins; D000099219:Royal Jelly