title: Decoding the ubiquitin-mediated pathway of arthropod disease vectors.
abstract: Protein regulation by ubiquitin has been extensively described in model organisms. However, characterization of the ubiquitin machinery in disease vectors remains mostly unknown. This fundamental gap in knowledge presents a concern because new therapeutics are needed to control vector-borne diseases, and targeting the ubiquitin machinery as a means for disease intervention has been already adopted in the clinic. In this study, we employed a bioinformatics approach to uncover the ubiquitin-mediated pathway in the genomes of Anopheles gambiae, Aedes aegypti, Culex quinquefasciatus, Ixodes scapularis, Pediculus humanus and Rhodnius prolixus. We observed that (1) disease vectors encode a lower percentage of ubiquitin-related genes when compared to Drosophila melanogaster, Mus musculus and Homo sapiens but not Saccharomyces cerevisiae; (2) overall, there are more proteins categorized as E3 ubiquitin ligases when compared to E2-conjugating or E1-activating enzymes; (3) the ubiquitin machinery within the three mosquito genomes is highly similar; (4) ubiquitin genes are more than doubled in the Chagas disease vector (R. prolixus) when compared to other arthropod vectors; (5) the deer tick I. scapularis and the body louse (P. humanus) genomes carry low numbers of E1-activating enzymes and HECT-type E3 ubiquitin ligases; (6) R. prolixus have low numbers of RING-type E3 ubiquitin ligases; and (7) C. quinquefasciatus present elevated numbers of predicted F-box E3 ubiquitin ligases, JAB and UCH deubiquitinases. Taken together, these findings provide novel opportunities to study the interaction between a pathogen and an arthropod vector.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Integrative Genome Biology, Center for Disease Vector Research and Department of Entomology, University of California Riverside, Riverside, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Choy
authors.forename: Maiara S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Severo
authors.forename: Ruobai
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Girke
authors.forename: Joseph J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Gillespie
authors.forename: Joao H F
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Pedra
mesh_terms: D000330:Aedes / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D000852:Anopheles / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D001179:Arthropod Vectors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D001181:Arthropods / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D019295:Computational Biology; D003465:Culex / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D009033:Culicidae / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004199:Disease Vectors; D049750:Genome, Insect / Q000235:genetics; D018884:Ixodes / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010374:Pediculus / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012239:Rhodnius / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D025801:Ubiquitin / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D025801:Ubiquitin