title: Cloning, sequence identification and expression profile analysis of α-L-fucosidase gene from the Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata.
abstract: The Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae) is one of the most destructive agricultural pests, a polyphagus insect of relevant economic importance and is widespread in many regions around the world. It is the best-studied fruit fly pest at genetic and molecular level and much has been learned on its ecology and behaviour. An α-L-fucosidase has been recently hypothesized to be involved in sperm-egg interactions in Drosophila melanogaster and in other Drosophila species. Here, a complete cDNA encoding a putative α-L-fucosidase of the medfly was amplified using the reverse polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with degenerate based on the conserved coding sequence information of several insect α-L-fucosidases, cloned and sequenced (GenBank accession no. FJ177429). The coding region consisted of 1482 bp which encoded a 485-residues protein (named CcFUCA) with a predicted molecular mass of 56.1 kDa. The deduced protein sequence showed 75% amino acid identity to D. melanogaster α-L-fucosidase, and in fact the phylogenetic tree analysis revealed that CcFUCA had closer relationships with the α-L-fucosidases of drosophilid species. The tissue expression analysis indicated that CcFuca was expressed in a single transcript in all tissues, suggesting a ubiquitous localization pattern of the encoded protein. Our findings provide novel insights on a gene encoding a protein potentially involved in primary gamete interactions in C. capitata.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology, University of Milano, via Celoria 26, 20133 Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Jari
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Intra
authors.forename: Maria-Elisa
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Perotti
authors.forename: Maria Enrica
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Pasini
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D033622:Ceratitis capitata / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017421:Sequence Analysis; D005644:alpha-L-Fucosidase / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D019476:Insect Proteins; D005644:alpha-L-Fucosidase