title: Characterization and expression of a new subfamily member of penaeidin antimicrobial peptides (penaeidin 5) from Fenneropenaeus chinensis.
abstract: Penaeidins are members of a special family of antimicrobial peptides existing in penaeid shrimp and play an important role in the immunological defence of shrimp. Here, we report one penaeidin with a putative isotype newly cloned from fleshy prawn Fenneropenaeus chinensis. The penaeidin open reading frame encodes a 79 amino acid peptide while two exons and an intron were identified within the 1126bp genomic sequence of Fenchi-penaeidin 5. Phylogenetic analysis and sequence comparison with other known penaeidins suggest the new gene belongs to a novel subfamily of penaeidins and the two isoforms were named Fenchi-penaeidin 5-1 and 5-2, respectively. Fenchi-penaeidin 5 mRNA was examined in normal and microbial challenged shrimp and was found to be constitutively expressed in heamocytes, heart, gill, intestine and ovary. Bacterial challenge resulted in mRNA up-regulation, inducing expression in hepatopancreas and stomach. Fenchi-penaeidin 5-1 was also expressed in Pichia pastoris, and recombinant Fenchi-penaeidin 5-1 exhibited activities against Gram-positive and -negative bacteria and fungi.
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, Shandong University, Jinan, 250100 Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Cui-Jie
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Jian-Feng
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Xiao-Fan
authors.initials: XF
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Jin-Xing
authors.initials: JX
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D015870:Gene Expression; D016908:Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000662:veterinary*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D033561:Penaeidae / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D010802:Phylogeny; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D012333:RNA, Messenger