The ecdysone receptor in the hemimetabolous pea aphid: cloning, protein structure modeling and functional analysis by RNAi

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event The ecdysone receptor in the hemimetabolous pea aphid: cloning, protein structure modeling and functional analysis by RNAi Guy Smagghe1*, Olivier Christiaens1, Masatoshi Iga1, Rodrigo A. Velarde2 and Pierre Rougé3 1 Ghent University, Department of Crop Protection, Belgium 2 Wake Forest University, Department of Biology, United States 3 University Toulouse, Faculté des Sciences Pharmaceutiques, France Ecdysteroids are the key insect hormone in insect growth and development, and they manifest their activity via interaction with the nuclear receptor complex of ecdysone receptor (EcR) and the Retinoid X Receptor (RXR). These two nuclear receptors form the start of the ecdysteroid cascade. In this project we report on the full length coding sequence of EcR and RXR in the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum. The converted amino acid sequences were compared with those of other insects and we examined the phylogenetic relationships of EcR and RXR genes in hemimetabolous and also holometabolous and ametabolous insects belonging to the orders of Hemiptera, Orthoptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera, Coleoptera, Collembola, and also Crustaceans within the phylum of Arthropoda. In addition we used the EcR sequence to make an initial in silico 3D model of the ligand-binding pocket docked with ecdysteroid hormone. This model exhibited the typical canonical structural scaffold with 12 α-helices associated with a short hairpin of two antiparallel β-strands. Upon docking, 20E was located in the hormone-binding groove, supporting the hypothesis that EcR has a role in 20E signaling. In a last step we investigated the phenotypes that can result from silencing of EcR in RNAi experiments. These data support the advent of Acyrthosiphon1 as a model allowing a better understanding of insect growth and development. Acknowledgements This work was supported by the Special Research Fund of Ghent University, and the Fund for Scientific Research (FWO-Vlaanderen, Brussels) References 1 The International Aphid Genomics Consortium. 2010. Genome sequence of the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum. PLoS Biology 8: e1000313. Keywords: comparative endocrinology Conference: 25th Conference of the European Comparative Endocrinologists, Pécs, Hungary, 31 Aug - 4 Sep, 2010. Presentation Type: Conference Presentation Topic: Comparative endocrinology Citation: Smagghe G, Christiaens O, Iga M, Velarde RA and Rougé P (2010). The ecdysone receptor in the hemimetabolous pea aphid: cloning, protein structure modeling and functional analysis by RNAi. Front. Endocrinol. Conference Abstract: 25th Conference of the European Comparative Endocrinologists. doi: 10.3389/conf.fendo.2010.01.00068 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 27 Aug 2010; Published Online: 29 Aug 2010. * Correspondence: Prof. Guy Smagghe, Ghent University, Department of Crop Protection, Ghent, Belgium, guy.smagghe@ugent.be Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Guy Smagghe Olivier Christiaens Masatoshi Iga Rodrigo A Velarde Pierre Rougé Google Guy Smagghe Olivier Christiaens Masatoshi Iga Rodrigo A Velarde Pierre Rougé Google Scholar Guy Smagghe Olivier Christiaens Masatoshi Iga Rodrigo A Velarde Pierre Rougé PubMed Guy Smagghe Olivier Christiaens Masatoshi Iga Rodrigo A Velarde Pierre Rougé Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.