Molecular cloning, sequence analysis and tissue expression of immulectin gene from the Asian corn borer, Ostrinia furnacalis (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae)
Author of the article:LIU Jia1, 2** LIU Yang1, 3 ZHAO Hua-Fu1 ZHANG Wen-Qing1 HU Jian1***
Author's Workplace：1. State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, China; 2. Kunshan Keteng Bioscience and Technology Co., Ltd, Suzhou, 200032,China; 3. Joekai Biotechnology LLC,Suzhou, 215300,China
Key Words： immulectin, clone, sequence analysis, tissue expression, Ostrinia furnacalis
Abstract：
C-type lectin, a kind of pattern recognition molecule, recognizes the lipid A portion of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and participates the cellular defense reaction in insects. In this paper, an immulectin (OfIML), C-type lectin with two carbohydrate-recognition domains, was cloned by reverse-transcription PCR (RT-PCR) and 3′/5′RACE from the larval hemocytes of corn borer, Ostrinia furnacalis. The cDNA of OfIML is 1 241 base pairs in length, and contains an open reading frame (ORF) of 924 nucleotides, which encoding a protein of 307 amino acids with a predicted molecularmass of approximately 34.65 ku. Alignment of OfIML with C-type lectins of other insects indicates that OfIML is a member of Lepidoptera immulectins. OfIML possesses two carbohydrate-recognition domains (CRDs), an amino-terminal domain, CRD1 (residues 1–135), and a carboxyl-terminal domain, CRD2 (residues 136–287). RT-PCR analyses shows that OfIML is expressed in cuticle, fat body, midgut, tracheae, and malpighian tubules, especially in hemocytes. The cDNA sequence has been deposited with GenBank under accession No. ABZ81710. OfIML is a kind of insect immunlectin, which contains two carbohydrate-recognition domains, and it possibly plays an important role during the immune reaction of O. furnaclis depending on its molecular structure and expression in tissues.