title: Pheromone-gland-specific fatty-acyl reductase in the adzuki bean borer, Ostrinia scapulalis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae).
abstract: The adzuki bean borer moth, Ostrinia scapulalis, uses a mixture of (E)-11- and (Z)-11-tetradecenyl acetates as a sex pheromone. At a step in the pheromone biosynthetic pathway, fatty-acyl precursors are converted to corresponding alcohols by an enzyme, fatty-acyl reductase (FAR). Here we report the cloning of FAR-like genes expressed in the pheromone gland of female O. scapulalis, and the characterization of a single pheromone-gland-specific FAR (pgFAR) and its functional assay using an insect cell expression system. As many as thirteen FAR-like genes (FAR-I-FAR-XIII) were expressed in the pheromone gland of O. scapulalis; however, only one (FAR-XIII) was pheromone-gland-specific. The deduced amino acid sequence of FAR-XIII predicted a 462-aa protein with a conserved NAD(P)H-binding motif in the N-terminal region, showing overall identity of 34% with the pgFAR of Bombyx mori. A functional assay using Sf9 cells transfected with an expression vector containing the open reading frame of the FAR-XIII gene has proven that FAR-XIII protein has the ability to convert a natural substrate, (Z)-11-tetradecenoic acid, to a corresponding alcohol, (Z)-11-tetradecenol.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Applied Entomology, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan.
authors.forename: Binu
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Antony
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fujii
authors.forename: Ken'ichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Moto
authors.forename: Shogo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: Mai
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fukuzawa
authors.forename: Ryo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nakano
authors.forename: Sadahiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tatsuki
authors.forename: Yukio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ishikawa
mesh_terms: D020816:Amino Acid Motifs; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D005088:Exocrine Glands / Q000737:chemistry / Q000201:enzymology; D005260:Female; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009036:Moths / Q000737:chemistry / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D009928:Organ Specificity; D010088:Oxidoreductases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D010675:Pheromones / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D019476:Insect Proteins; D010675:Pheromones; D010088:Oxidoreductases