title: Cloning of the 16-kDa V-ATPase proteolipid subunit from the red imported fire ant Solenopsis invicta buren (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).
abstract: V-ATPases are ubiquitous proton pumps found in eukaryotes, and are important in regulating the pH of cell compartments and in creating membrane potentials. The V-ATPase creates a proton gradient that is used as an energy source for the transport of other ions. The 16-kDa proteolipid is the proton-translocating subunit c of V-ATPases. Using PCR methods, we have cloned the fire ant 16-kDa subunit c, providing the first molecular characterization of this protein in a social insect. Northern blot analysis revealed three possible different transcripts. The presence of V-ATPases in ant Malpighian tubules had been previously demonstrated, where they provide the proton gradient necessary for the excretion of other ions and the formation of primary urine. The 16-kDa proteolipid is highly conserved among insects, and in ants may be important to the critical processes of diuresis and olfaction as a key component of the V-ATPase. Arch.
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-2475, USA.
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Holmes
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Frazier
authors.forename: P V
authors.initials: PV
authors.lastname: Pietrantonio
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001000:Ants / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D001483:Base Sequence; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D021122:Protein Subunits; D011510:Proteolipids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D006180:Proton-Translocating ATPases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D012313:RNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D025262:Vacuolar Proton-Translocating ATPases
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D021122:Protein Subunits; D011510:Proteolipids; D012313:RNA; D025262:Vacuolar Proton-Translocating ATPases; D006180:Proton-Translocating ATPases