title: Isolation and characterization of As60A, a transforming growth factor-beta gene, from the malaria vector Anopheles stephensi.
abstract: We have isolated the first mosquito member of the TGF-beta superfamily, As60A. As60A is a single copy gene, approximately 5 kb in length and encodes eight exons. Here we report the isolation and characterization of two of four transcripts produced from this gene. The transcripts As60A(1)and As60A(2)encode related 5'UTR/exon 1 sequences. As60A is most similar to the 60A genes from Drosophila and is thus a member of the Dpp/BMP subfamily of the TGF-beta superfamily. The splice junction of intron 2 is conserved among As60A, BMP2, BMP4, Tc-Dpp, Bm-tgh-1, TGF-beta1 and Dpp. Intron 2 also contains three putative binding sites for a Dorsal/Gambif1 transcription factor. The large number of introns and the conservation of intron 2 indicate that As60A is relatively ancient compared to the other arthropod TGF-beta genes. We also propose that As60A plays a role in the mosquito immune response to Plasmodium infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Virginia Tech, Engel Hall, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA. andreac@vt.edu
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Crampton
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Luckhart
mesh_terms: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; D020121:5' Untranslated Regions; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D055396:Bone Morphogenetic Protein 2; D055415:Bone Morphogenetic Protein 4; D019485:Bone Morphogenetic Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000378:metabolism; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D005091:Exons; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D007438:Introns; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010961:Plasmodium / Q000235:genetics; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics*; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1
chemical_list: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; D020121:5' Untranslated Regions; C424084:As60A protein, Anopheles stephensi; D055396:Bone Morphogenetic Protein 2; D055415:Bone Morphogenetic Protein 4; D019485:Bone Morphogenetic Proteins; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D019476:Insect Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1; C064196:dpp protein, Drosophila