Molecular cloning and expression profile of a Halloween gene encoding Cyp307A1 from the seabuckthorn carpenterworm, Holcocerus hippophaecolus

J Insect Sci. 2013:13:56. doi: 10.1673/031.013.5601.

Abstract

20-Hydroxyecdyone, an active form of ecdysteroid, is the key hormone in insect growth and development. Halloween genes encode ecdysteroidogenic enzymes, including cytochrome P450 monooxygenase. CYP307A1 (spook) is accepted as an enzyme acting in the so-called 'black box' that includes a series of hypothetical and unproven reactions that finally result in the oxidation of 7-dehydrocholesterol to diketol. In this study, the Holcocerus hippophaecolus Hua (Lepidoptera: Cossidae) CYP307A1 (HhSpo) gene was identified and characterized. The obtained cDNA sequence was 2084 base pairs with an open reading frame of 537 animo acids, in which existed conserved motifs of CYP450 enzymes. The transcript profiles of HhSpo were analyzed in various tissues of final instar larvae. The highest expression was observed in the prothoracic gland, while expression level was low but significant in other tissues. These results suggest that the sequence character and expression profile of HhSpo were well conserved and provided the basic information for its functional analysis.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cattle
  • Cloning, Molecular
  • Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System / genetics*
  • Gene Expression
  • Humans
  • Insect Proteins / genetics*
  • Moths / genetics*
  • Phylogeny
  • Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction

Substances

  • Insect Proteins
  • Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System