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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Fort Pierce, Florida » U.S. Horticultural Research Laboratory » Subtropical Insects and Horticulture Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #192972
Title: SEQUENCING AND MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF A VITELLOGENIN CDNA FROM THE GLASSY-WINGED SHARPSHOOTER, HOMALODISCA COAGULATA (HEMIPTERA: CICADELLIDAE)

Author
item Hunter, Wayne
item Hunnicutt, Laura

Submitted to: Annual International Plant & Animal Genome Conference
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/5/2006
Publication Date: 1/15/2006
Citation: Hunter, W.B., Hunnicutt, L.E. 2006. Sequencing and molecular characterization of a vitellogenin cdna from the glassy-winged sharpshooter, Homalodisca coagulata (Hemiptera: cicadellidae). Proceedings of Annual International Plant & Animal Genome Conference. P. 509. p. 228.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The cDNA for vitellogenin (Vg) of the glassy-winged sharpshooter, GWSS, Homalodisca coagulata (Say), was cloned and sequenced. The importance of GWSS as a vector of Xylella caused plant diseases has lead to the need for a better understanding of the genes and proteins associated with egg provisioning in GWSS. The GWSS-Vg has a coding region consisting of 5823 nucleotides (nt) flanked by untranslated regions (UTRs) of 91 nt on the 5'-proximal end and 60 nt on the 3'-proxmial end, excluding the poly(A) tail. Conceptual translation of the cDNA yielded a single, long open reading frame (ORF) comprised of 1890 amino acids (including 16 residues which are thought to encode a signal peptide). Alignment of GWSS-Vg with 30 other insect Vgs revealed several conserved motifs including two discontinuous serine-rich stretches joined by a short region (35 nt) which contains a paired-basic motif (RFAR) putatively involved in cleavage site recognition by subtilisin-like proprotein convertases. Additional regions of conservation were noted near the C-terminus of the protein, including the G(L/I)(C/A)G and DGXR motifs which occur with only slight modification. Phylogenetic reconstruction of GWSS Vg with other insect Vgs based on maximum likelihood was largely concordant with currently accepted phylogenies. Of those included in the analysis, GWSS-Vg was most closely related to the predicted Vg amino acid sequence from the cicada, Graptopsaltria nigrofuscata Motschulsky. Future experiments are focusing on the disruption of Vg formation in GWSS as a possible means to reduce GWSS populations. The GWSS-Vg sequence was published on the NCBI public database, Accession number DQ118408.