title: Sex pheromone desaturase functioning in a primitive Ostrinia moth is cryptically conserved in congeners' genomes.
abstract: (E)-11- and (Z)-11-tetradecenyl acetate are the most common female sex pheromone components in Ostrinia moths. The Δ11-desaturase expressed in the pheromone gland (PG) of female moths is a key enzyme that introduces a double bond into pheromone molecules. A single Δ11-desaturase of Ostrinia nubilalis, OnubZ/E11, has been shown to produce an ∼7:3 mixture of (E)-11- and (Z)-11-tetradecenoate from the substrate tetradecanoate. In contrast, the sex pheromone of Ostrinia latipennis, a primitive species of Ostrinia, is (E)-11-tetradecenol. This pheromone is unique in that it is not acetylated, and includes no Z isomer. In the present study, through the cloning and functional analysis of a PG-specific Δ11-desaturase in O. latipennis, we showed that the absence of the Z isomer in the pheromone is attributable to the strict product specificity of the Δ11-desaturase in this species, LATPG1. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that LATPG1 was not closely related to OnubZ/E11. Rather, it was closely related to retroposon-linked cryptic Δ11-desaturases (ezi-Δ11) found in the genomes of O. nubilalis and Ostrinia furnacalis. Taken together, the results showed that an unusual Δ11-desaturase is functionally expressed in O. latipennis, although the genes encoding this enzyme appear to be cryptic in congeners.
authors: Laboratory of Applied Entomology, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan.
authors: Takeshi
authors: T
authors: Fujii
authors: Katsuhiko
authors: K
authors: Ito
authors: Mitsuko
authors: M
authors: Tatematsu
authors: Toru
authors: T
authors: Shimada
authors: Susumu
authors: S
authors: Katsuma
authors: Yukio
authors: Y
authors: Ishikawa
mesh_terms: D000107:Acetylation; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D044943:Fatty Acid Desaturases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D049750:Genome, Insect / Q000502:physiology*; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009036:Moths / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D012724:Sex Attractants / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D019476:Insect Proteins; D012724:Sex Attractants; D044943:Fatty Acid Desaturases