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Molecular diversity of PBAN family peptides from fire ants
Author(s) -
Choi ManYeon,
Vander Meer Robert K.,
Valles Steven M.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
archives of insect biochemistry and physiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.576
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1520-6327
pISSN - 0739-4462
DOI - 10.1002/arch.20356
Subject(s) - biology , phylogenetic tree , gene , gene family , genetics , phylogenetics , genome
The PBAN/Pyrokinin peptide family is a major neuropeptide family characterized with a common FXPRLamide in the C‐termini. These peptides are ubiquitously distributed in the Insecta and are involved in many essential endocrinal functions, e.g., pheromone production. Previous work demonstrated the localization of PBAN in the fire ant central nervous system, and identified a new family of PBAN from the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta . In this study, we identified five more PBAN/Pyrokinin genes from S. geminata , S. richteri , S. pergandii , S. carolinensis , and a hybrid of S. invicta and S. richteri . The gene sequences were used to determine the phylogenetic relationships of these species and hybrid, which compared well to the morphologically defined fire ant subgroup complexes. The putative PBAN and other peptides were determined from the amino acid sequences of the PBAN/pyrokinin genes. We summarized all known insect PBAN family neuropeptides, and for the first time constructed a phylogenetic tree based on the full amino acid sequences translated from representative PBAN cDNAs. The PBAN/pyrokinin gene is well conserved in Insecta and probably extends into the Arthropod phylum; however, translated pre‐propeptides may vary and functional diversity may be retained, lost, or modified during the evolutionary process. Published 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.