title: Transcriptomic and proteomic analyses on the supercooling ability and mining of antifreeze proteins of the Chinese white wax scale insect.
abstract: The Chinese white wax scale insect, Ericerus pela, can survive at extremely low temperatures, and some overwintering individuals exhibit supercooling at temperatures below -30°C. To investigate the deep supercooling ability of E. pela, transcriptomic and proteomic analyses were performed to delineate the major gene and protein families responsible for the deep supercooling ability of overwintering females. Gene Ontology (GO) classification and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis indicated that genes involved in the mitogen-activated protein kinase, calcium, and PI3K-Akt signaling pathways and pathways associated with the biosynthesis of soluble sugars, sugar alcohols and free amino acids were dominant. Proteins responsible for low-temperature stress, such as cold acclimation proteins, glycerol biosynthesis-related enzymes and heat shock proteins (HSPs) were identified. However, no antifreeze proteins (AFPs) were identified through sequence similarity search methods. A random forest approach identified 388 putative AFPs in the proteome. The AFP gene ep-afp was expressed in Escherichia coli, and the expressed protein exhibited a thermal hysteresis activity of 0.97°C, suggesting its potential role in the deep supercooling ability of E. pela.
authors.forename: Shu-Hui
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Pu
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Research Institute of Resources Insects, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Key Laboratory of Cultivating and Utilization of Resources Insects of State Forestry Administration, Kunming, China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Research Institute of Resources Insects, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Key Laboratory of Cultivating and Utilization of Resources Insects of State Forestry Administration, Kunming, China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.affiliation: Research Institute of Resources Insects, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Key Laboratory of Cultivating and Utilization of Resources Insects of State Forestry Administration, Kunming, China.
authors.forename: Xue-Qing
authors.initials: XQ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Research Institute of Resources Insects, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Key Laboratory of Cultivating and Utilization of Resources Insects of State Forestry Administration, Kunming, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Ming
authors.initials: XM
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Research Institute of Resources Insects, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Key Laboratory of Cultivating and Utilization of Resources Insects of State Forestry Administration, Kunming, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Research Institute of Resources Insects, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Key Laboratory of Cultivating and Utilization of Resources Insects of State Forestry Administration, Kunming, China.
authors.forename: Bo-Wen
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D021301:Antifreeze Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D003080:Cold Temperature; D005260:Female; D017344:Genes, Insect; D006430:Hemiptera / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D020543:Proteome; D059467:Transcriptome
chemical_list: D021301:Antifreeze Proteins; D019476:Insect Proteins; D020543:Proteome
keywords: Chinese white wax scale insect; antifreeze protein; proteome, supercoiling; thermal hysteresis activity; transcriptome