title: A major facilitator superfamily protein participates in the reddish brown pigmentation in Bombyx mori.
abstract: MucK is a member of the major facilitator super family (MFS) and is within a subgroup involved in the uptake of organic acids. Here, we provide the first evidence that mucK is required for normal body color pattern in insect larvae. In the cts mutant strain of Bombyx mori (Linnaeus), the larval anal plates, prothoracic tergum, and the head are reddish brown, as opposed to the white color found in the wild type. Positional cloning of the cts gene was carried out and it was mapped within 90kb on the 16th chromosome. Two molecular markers, 182A4 and 242GA, were found co-segregated with the cts phenotype. Only one candidate gene in the region, BGIBMGA013242, which codes for a major facilitator super family protein named BmMucK, located between the two loci. Sequence analysis revealed that a ∼3kb deletion in the genome resulting in a 126bp deletion in the open reading frame (ORF) of BmmucK in the cts mutant. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and quantitative reverse transcription PCR showed that BmmucK expression coincided with reddish brown pigmented regions in the cts mutant strain. BmmucK expression in the head and anal plates were markedly elevated at the molting stages. We performed RNA interference of the mucK homolog in Tribolium castaneum and observed brown coloration accompanied by lethality in ∼1/3 of the insects. The results suggest that MucK plays an important role in the pigmentation process of insect larvae.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Insect Developmental and Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, PR China.
authors.forename: Yunpo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Zhiqian
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jianli
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.forename: Jianhao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Yubing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Shuai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhan
authors.forename: Rotimi O
authors.initials: RO
authors.lastname: Akinkurolere
authors.forename: Anying
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Heying
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.forename: Xuexia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Miao
authors.forename: Anjiang
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Yongping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D012831:Bombyx / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D017344:Genes, Insect; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D007814:Larva; D008297:Male; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D018978:Molting; D010641:Phenotype; D010858:Pigmentation / Q000235:genetics*; D014231:Tribolium / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D019476:Insect Proteins