title: Identification of major Toxoneuron nigriceps venom proteins using an integrated transcriptomic/proteomic approach.
abstract: Endoparasitoids in the order Hymenoptera are natural enemies of several herbivorous insect pest species. During oviposition they inject a mixture of factors, which include venom, into the host, ensuring the successful parasitism and the development of their progeny. Although these parasitoid factors are known to be responsible for host manipulation, such as immune system suppression, little is known about both identity and function of the majority of their venom components. To identify the major proteins of Toxoneuron nigriceps (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) venom, we used an integrated transcriptomic and proteomic approach. The tandem-mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) data combined with T. nigriceps venom gland transcriptome used as a reference database resulted in the identification of a total of thirty one different proteins. While some of the identified proteins have been described in venom from several parasitoids, others were identified for the first time. Among the identified proteins, hydrolases constituted the most abundant family followed by transferases, oxidoreductases, ligases, lyases and isomerases. The hydrolases identified in the T. nigriceps venom glands included proteases, peptidases and glycosidases, reported as common components of venom from several parasitoid species. Taken together, the identified proteins included factors that could potentially inhibit the host immune system, manipulate host physiological processes and host development, as well as provide nutrients to the parasitoid progeny, degrading host tissues by specific hydrolytic enzymes. The venom decoding provides us with information about the identity of candidate venom factors which could contribute to the success of parasitism, together with other maternal and embryonic factors.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze, Università degli Studi della Basilicata, Via dell'Ateneo Lucano 10, 85100, Potenza, Italy.
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Laurino
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze, Università degli Studi della Basilicata, Via dell'Ateneo Lucano 10, 85100, Potenza, Italy.
authors.forename: Gerarda
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Grossi
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche e Ceinge Biotecnologie Avanzate, Università di Napoli Federico II, Via Cintia 6, 80126, Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Pietro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pucci
authors.affiliation: Ceinge Biotecnologie Avanzate, Via Gaetano Salvatore 482, 80131, Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Flagiello
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze, Università degli Studi della Basilicata, Via dell'Ateneo Lucano 10, 85100, Potenza, Italy.
authors.forename: Sabino Aurelio
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Bufo
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze, Università degli Studi della Basilicata, Via dell'Ateneo Lucano 10, 85100, Potenza, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuliana
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bianco
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze, Università degli Studi della Basilicata, Via dell'Ateneo Lucano 10, 85100, Potenza, Italy.
authors.forename: Rosanna
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Salvia
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843-2475, USA.
authors.forename: S Bradleigh
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Vinson
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Hans-Knöll-Straße 8, D-07745, Jena, Germany. Electronic address: hvogel@ice.mpg.de.
authors.forename: Heiko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Vogel
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze, Università degli Studi della Basilicata, Via dell'Ateneo Lucano 10, 85100, Potenza, Italy. Electronic address: patrizia.falabella@unibas.it.
authors.forename: Patrizia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Falabella
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D020543:Proteome; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry; D059467:Transcriptome; D014862:Wasp Venoms / Q000032:analysis*; D014863:Wasps / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D019476:Insect Proteins; D020543:Proteome; D014862:Wasp Venoms
keywords: Endoparasitoids; Gene Ontology; Hymenoptera; Venom; Venom glands