title: Prediction of a peptidome for the western tarnished plant bug Lygus hesperus.
abstract: Many strategies for controlling insect pests require an understanding of their hormonal signaling agents, peptides being the largest and most diverse single class of these molecules. Lygus hesperus is a pest species of particular concern, as it is responsible for significant damage to a wide variety of commercially important plant crops. At present, little is known about the peptide hormones of L. hesperus. Here, transcriptomic data were used to predict a peptidome for L. hesperus. Fifty-three L. hesperus transcripts encoding peptide precursors were identified, with a subset amplified by PCR for sequence verification. The proteins deduced from these transcripts allowed for the prediction of a 119-sequence peptidome for L. hesperus. The predicted peptides include isoforms of allatostatin A, allatostatin B (AST-B), allatostatin C, allatotropin, bursicon, CCHamide, corazonin, crustacean cardioactive peptide, crustacean hyperglycemic hormone/ion transport peptide, diuretic hormone 31, GSEFLamide, insulin-like peptide, myosuppressin, neuroparsin, neuropeptide F, orcokinin, orcomyotropin, pyrokinin, short neuropeptide F, SIFamide, sulfakinin and tachykinin-related peptide. Of note were several isoforms of AST-B that possess -WX7Wamide carboxyl-termini rather than the stereotypical -WX6Wamide (e.g., KWQDMQNPGWamide), an allatotropin ending in -SARGFamide rather than -TARGFamide (GLKNGPLNSARGFamide), a GSEFLamide ending in -GTEFLamide (TVGTEFLamide), several orcokinins with PMDEIDR- rather than NFDEIDR- amino-termini (e.g., PMDEIDRAGFTHFV), and an eight rather than 12 amino acid long isoform of SIFamide (PPFNGSIFamide). Collectively, the L. hesperus peptidome predicted here provides a resource for initiating physiological investigations of peptidergic signaling in this species, including studies directed at the biological control of this agricultural pest.
authors: Békésy Laboratory of Neurobiology, Pacific Biosciences Research Center, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1993 East-West Road, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA.
authors: Andrew E
authors: AE
authors: Christie
authors: Pest Management and Biocontrol Research Unit, US Arid Land Agricultural Research Center, USDA Agricultural Research Services, Maricopa, AZ 85138, USA.
authors: J Joe
authors: JJ
authors: Hull
authors: Pest Management and Biocontrol Research Unit, US Arid Land Agricultural Research Center, USDA Agricultural Research Services, Maricopa, AZ 85138, USA.
authors: Josh A
authors: JA
authors: Richer
authors: Tropical Crop and Commodity Protection Research Unit, Daniel K. Inouye Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center, USDA Agricultural Research Services, Hilo, HI 96720, USA.
authors: Scott M
authors: SM
authors: Geib
authors: Plant Physiology and Genetics Research Unit, US Arid Land Agricultural Research Center, USDA Agricultural Research Services, Maricopa, AZ 85138, USA.
authors: Erica E
authors: EE
authors: Tassone
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D019295:Computational Biology / Q000379:methods*; D020062:Heteroptera / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000032:analysis*; D010944:Plants / Q000469:parasitology*; D020543:Proteome / Q000032:analysis*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D059467:Transcriptome
chemical_list: D019476:Insect Proteins; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D020543:Proteome
keywords: Bioinformatics; Neurohormone; Neuropeptide; Transcriptomics