Extending the honey bee venome with the antimicrobial peptide apidaecin and a protein resembling wasp antigen 5.
Honey bee venom is a complex mixture of toxic proteins and peptides. In the present study we tried to extend our knowledge of the venom composition using two different approaches. First, worker venom was analysed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and this revealed the antimicrobial peptide apidaecin for the first time in such samples. Its expression in the venom gland was confirmed by reverse transcription PCR and by a peptidomic analysis of the venom apparatus tissue. Second, genome mining revealed a list of proteins with resemblance to known insect allergens or venom toxins, one of which showed homology to proteins of the antigen 5 (Ag5)/Sol i 3 cluster. It was demonstrated that the honey bee Ag5-like gene is expressed by venom gland tissue of winter bees but not of summer bees. Besides this seasonal variation, it shows an interesting spatial expression pattern with additional production in the hypopharyngeal glands, the brains and the midgut. Finally, our immunoblot study revealed that both synthetic apidaecin and the Ag5-like recombinant from bacteria evoke no humoral activity in beekeepers. Also, no IgG4-based cross-reactivity was detected between the honey bee Ag5-like protein and its yellow jacket paralogue Ves v 5.
Laboratory of Zoophysiology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium. matthias.vanvaerenbergh@ugent.be
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Van Vaerenbergh
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Cardoen
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Formesyn
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Brunain
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Van Driessche
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Blank
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Spillner
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Verleyen
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Wenseleers
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Schoofs
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Devreese
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de Graaf
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D001514:Bee Venoms / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D001516:Bees / Q000502:physiology*; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D003429:Cross Reactions / Q000276:immunology; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D007106:Immune Sera; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000276:immunology; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014862:Wasp Venoms / Q000737:chemistry*; D014863:Wasps / Q000276:immunology
D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D001514:Bee Venoms; D007106:Immune Sera; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D019476:Insect Proteins; D014862:Wasp Venoms; C040583:white-faced hornet venom antigen 5; C061361:apidaecin