Genome-wide identification of cuticular protein genes in the silkworm, Bombyx mori.
Many kinds of cuticular proteins are found in a single insect species and their numbers and features are diversified among insects. Because there are so many cuticular proteins and so much sequence variation among them, an overview of cuticular protein gene is needed. Recently, a complete silkworm genome sequence was obtained through the integration of data from two whole genome sequence projects performed independently in 2004. To identify cuticular protein genes in the silkworm Bombyx mori exhaustively, we searched both the Bombyx whole genome sequence as well as various EST libraries, and found 220 putative cuticular protein genes. We also revised the annotation of the gene model, and named each identified cuticular protein based on its motif. The phylogenetic tree of cuticular protein genes among B. mori, Drosophila melanogaster, and Apis mellifera revealed that duplicate cuticular protein clusters have evolved independently among insects. Comparison of EST libraries and northern blot analyses showed that the tissue- and stage-specific expression of each gene was intricately regulated, even between adjacent genes in the same gene cluster. This study reveals many novel cuticular protein genes as well as insights into cuticular protein gene regulation.
Futahashi
Ryo
R
Department of Integrated Biosciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan.
Okamoto
Shun
S
Kawasaki
Hideki
H
Zhong
Yang-Sheng
YS
Iwanaga
Masashi
M
Mita
Kazuei
K
Fujiwara
Haruhiko
H
D000818:Animals; D012831:Bombyx / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D020224:Expressed Sequence Tags; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000502:physiology; D015723:Gene Library; D049750:Genome, Insect; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D034582:Integumentary System; D010802:Phylogeny
D019476:Insect Proteins