A Serine Protease Gene from the Firefly, Pyrocoelia rufa: Gene Structure, Expression, and Enzyme Activity

Li, Jianhong; Choo, Young Moo; Lee, Kwang-Sik; Je, Yeon Ho; Woo, Soo Dong; Kim, Iksoo; Sohn, Hung Dae; Jin, Byung Rae

doi:10.1007/s10529-005-8449-9

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Group I included genes that had higher expression in larval stages than any other life stages. The larva is a crucial assimilatory stage in the life history of insects [ 50 ], especially holometabolous form such as P. xylostella , and serine protease genes have been identified from the larva of several insect species and presumed to function in protein digestion [ 2 , 51 ]. The genes in Group II displayed differential expressions, indicating that they may play diverse physiological roles in P. xylostella .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genome-wide identification and expression profiling of serine proteases and homologs in the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.)

Lin

Xia

et al. 2015

BMC Genomics

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BackgroundSerine proteases (SPs) are crucial proteolytic enzymes responsible for digestion and other processes including signal transduction and immune responses in insects. Serine protease homologs (SPHs) lack catalytic activity but are involved in innate immunity. This study presents a genome-wide investigation of SPs and SPHs in the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.), a globally-distributed destructive pest of cruciferous crops.ResultsA total of 120 putative SPs and 101 putative SPHs were identified in the P. xylostella genome by bioinformatics analysis. Based on the features of trypsin, 38 SPs were putatively designated as trypsin genes. The distribution, transcription orientation, exon-intron structure and sequence alignments suggested that the majority of trypsin genes evolved from tandem duplications. Among the 221 SP/SPH genes, ten SP and three SPH genes with one or more clip domains were predicted and designated as PxCLIPs. Phylogenetic analysis of CLIPs in P. xylostella, two other Lepidoptera species (Bombyx mori and Manduca sexta), and two more distantly related insects (Drosophila melanogaster and Apis mellifera) showed that seven of the 13 PxCLIPs were clustered with homologs of the Lepidoptera rather than other species. Expression profiling of the P. xylostella SP and SPH genes in different developmental stages and tissues showed diverse expression patterns, suggesting high functional diversity with roles in digestion and development.ConclusionsThis is the first genome-wide investigation on the SP and SPH genes in P. xylostella. The characterized features and profiled expression patterns of the P. xylostella SPs and SPHs suggest their involvement in digestion, development and immunity of this species. Our findings provide a foundation for further research on the functions of this gene family in P. xylostella, and a better understanding of its capacity to rapidly adapt to a wide range of environmental variables including host plants and insecticides.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-015-2243-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genome-wide identification and expression profiling of serine proteases and homologs in the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.)

Lin

Xia

et al. 2015

BMC Genomics

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“…Five out of nine species of Pygoluciola can be found in Borneo (Sabah and Sarawak). Pyrocoelia fireflies are widespread in Asia (Jeng et al, 2011;Li et al, 2005;Osozawa et al, 2015;Wang et al, 2007) and in Malaysia it was recorded in Tasik Chini (Roslan & Sulaiman, 2015), Fraser's Hill (Nada et al, 2013) and Tabin wildlife Reserve (Chung & Binti, 2008). This study presents new records of Pygoluciola wittmeri, Luciola sp.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Solitary Fireflies of Kangkawat Research Station, Imbak Canyon, Sabah

Mobilim¹,

Dawood²

2020

JTBC

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A survey on solitary fireflies was carried out at Kangkawat Research Station in October 2018. A total of 33 fireflies were collected; three adult males, 13 adult females and 17 larvae. Three fireflies species were identified from male specimens, namely Pygoluciola wittmeri, Luciola sp. and most larvae consists of Pyrocoelia sp. This is a new record, mapping the existence of the species in Imbak, hence expanding the geographical knowledge of Pygoluciola, Luciola and Pyrocoelia. There are five morphospecies of unidentified females and three morphospecies of larvae. Three videos of larvae showed an emission of a long glow while the adult female in captivity exhibited single-peaked pulsing light. Male flashes were observed to emit long glows with intermittent rest. Most adult fireflies were caught flying between trees while larvae were found among twigs, leaf litter and leaves.

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“…In spite of these difficulties, some success has been achieved in the case of carboxypeptidases, where a recombinant zymogen form was expressed and processed further in vitro to obtain the active form [41,42], thus enabling researchers to gain useful information on novel insect gut carboxypeptidases [43]. Recent reports describe the stable and functional expression of serine proteases by use of insect cell culture systems and viral vectors for a novel chymotrypsin from Spodoptera exigua [44] and a serine protease from the firefly, Pyrocelia rufa [45]. These successful attempts will definitely spur more interest in expression systems based on insect cell culture and viral vector systems; a demand for specific cell-lines and customized vectors for various mechanistic classes of proteases also seems likely.…”

Section: Limitations In Experimental Analyses Of Functional Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Structural and functional diversities in lepidopteran serine proteases

Srinivasan

Giri

Gupta

2006

Cellular and Molecular Biology Letters

214

164

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Primary protein-digestion in Lepidopteran larvae relies on serine proteases like trypsin and chymotrypsin. Efforts toward the classification and characterization of digestive proteases have unraveled a considerable diversity in the specificity and mechanistic classes of gut proteases. Though the evolutionary significance of mutations that lead to structural diversity in serine proteases has been well characterized, detailing the resultant functional diversity has continually posed a challenge to researchers. Functional diversity can be correlated to the adaptation of insects to various host-plants as well as to exposure of insects to naturally occurring antagonistic biomolecules such as plant-derived protease inhibitors (PIs) and lectins. Current research is focused on deciphering the changes in protease specificities and activities arising from altered amino acids at the active site, specificity-determining pockets and other regions, which influence activity. Some insight has been gained through in silico modeling and simulation experiments, aided by the limited availability of characterized proteases. We examine the structurally and functionally diverse Lepidopteran serine proteases, and assess their influence on larval digestive processes and on overall insect physiology.

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A Serine Protease Gene from the Firefly, Pyrocoelia rufa: Gene Structure, Expression, and Enzyme Activity

Cited by 6 publications

References 12 publications

Genome-wide identification and expression profiling of serine proteases and homologs in the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.)

Genome-wide identification and expression profiling of serine proteases and homologs in the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.)

Solitary Fireflies of Kangkawat Research Station, Imbak Canyon, Sabah

Structural and functional diversities in lepidopteran serine proteases

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