title: Characterization of a serine carboxypeptidase in the salivary glands and fat body of the orange wheat blossom midge, Sitodiplosis mosellana (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae).
abstract: A full-length cDNA encoding a serine carboxypeptidase (designated SmSCP-1) was recovered from an ongoing salivary gland EST project of the wheat midge. The deduced 461-amino acid sequence had a putative signal sequence at the amino terminus, indicating it was a secreted protein. The protein shared homology with serine carboxypeptidases from other insects, mammals, plants, and yeasts. SmSCP-1 mRNA was expressed in all stages of development and detected in salivary gland and fat body tissues but not in midgut tissue. Expression analysis and quantitative real-time PCR assays in male and female wheat midges and the fat body tissue of adult midges revealed that SmSCP-1 was up-regulated nearly four-fold in the female midges compared to males and nearly two-fold in female fat body compared to male fat body. The wheat midge serine carboxypeptidase (SmSCP-1) most likely has a dual function. As a secreted digestive enzyme, it could play a role in mobilizing host-plant seed reserves for feeding larvae and as expressed in fat body could function as an exopeptidase in degradation of vitellogenin and/or in post-translational processing of other enzymes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA.
authors.forename: Omprakash
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Mittapalli
authors.forename: Ian L
authors.initials: IL
authors.lastname: Wise
authors.forename: Richard H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Shukle
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002268:Carboxypeptidases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002875:Chromosomes / Q000235:genetics; D004175:Diptera / Q000201:enzymology*; D005216:Fat Body / Q000201:enzymology*; D005260:Female; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012469:Salivary Glands / Q000201:enzymology*; D020539:Sequence Analysis, Protein; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D002268:Carboxypeptidases; C022633:serine carboxypeptidase