title: Apolipophorin III from honeybees (Apis cerana) exhibits antibacterial activity.
abstract: Apolipophorin III (apoLp-III) is involved in lipid transport and innate immunity in insects. In this study, an apoLp-III protein that exhibits antibacterial activity was identified in honeybees (Apis cerana). A. cerana apoLp-III cDNA encodes a 193 amino acid sequence that shares high identity with other members of the hymenopteran insect apoLp-III family. A. cerana apoLp-III is expressed constitutively in the fat body, epidermis, and venom gland and is detected as a 23-kDa protein. A. cerana apoLp-III expression is induced in the fat body after injection with Escherichia coli, Bacillus thuringiensis, or Beauveria bassiana. However, recombinant A. cerana apoLp-III (expressed in baculovirus-infected insect cells) binds directly to E. coli and B. thuringiensis but not to B. bassiana. Consistent with these findings, A. cerana apoLp-III exhibited antibacterial activity against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. These results provide insight into the role of A. cerana apoLp-III during the innate immune response following bacterial infection.
authors.affiliation: College of Natural Resources and Life Science, Dong-A University, Busan 604-714, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Bo Yeon
authors.initials: BY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: College of Natural Resources and Life Science, Dong-A University, Busan 604-714, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: brjin@dau.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Byung Rae
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Jin
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001053:Apolipoproteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D001413:Bacillus thuringiensis / Q000502:physiology; D016367:Baculoviridae / Q000235:genetics; D052982:Beauveria / Q000502:physiology; D001516:Bees / Q000276:immunology*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000502:physiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D001053:Apolipoproteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; C042470:apolipophorin III
keywords: Antibacterial activity; Apis cerana; Apolipophorin III; Honeybee; Innate immunity