title: The glycosylated androgenic hormone of the terrestrial isopod Porcellio scaber (Crustacea).
abstract: It appears from grafting experiments that the androgenic hormone (AH) of terrestrial isopods has a narrow species-specificity [J. Crust. Biol. 19 (1999) 684], even if AH of different species shared common epitopes [Gen. Comp. Endocrinol. 125 (2002) 218]. To date only the glycosylated AH of the woodlouse Armadillidium vulgare has been deciphered by us [Ann. New York Acad. Sci. 839 (1998) 111; Eur. J. Biochem. 262 (1999) 727] and [Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 264 (1999) 419] have confirmed the primary structure of this protein. We reported in the present paper the characterization of the AH in another species Porcellio scaber by a combination of microsequencing, mass spectrometry, and molecular cloning. We found only one glycoform which consisted of two peptide chains, A and B, of 31 and 44 amino acids, respectively, with A chain carrying on Asn18 a N-glycosylated moiety, size of which has been determined by MALDI-MS measurements. The expected structure of the glycosylation was proposed. The deduced amino acid sequence of the AH precursor was mainly identical to the one obtained independently by another group [Zool. Sci. 20 (2003) 75]. We also showed that AH gene is exclusively expressed in androgenic glands. Sequence comparison with A. vulgare and P. scaber (population of Japan) AH was discussed.
authors.affiliation: Université de Poitiers, Laboratoire de Génétique et Biologie des Populations de Crustacés, UMR 6556-40, avenue du Recteur Pineau, 86022 Poitiers Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Grève
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Braquart-Varnier
authors.forename: Jean-Marc
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Strub
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Félix
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Van Dorsselaer
authors.forename: Gilbert
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Martin
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000728:Androgens / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001681:Biological Assay; D005260:Female; D006031:Glycosylation; D033321:Isopoda / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012313:RNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization
chemical_list: D000728:Androgens; D012313:RNA