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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Gainesville, Florida » Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology » Mosquito and Fly Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #308849
Title: Identification and expression of the PBAN/pyrokinin gene in the sand fly Phlebotomus papatasi

Author
item Choi, Man-Yeon
item Sanscrainte, Neil
item ESTEP, ALDEN - Navy And Marine Corps Public Health Center (NMCPHC)
item Vander Meer, Robert - Bob
item Becnel, James

Submitted to: Journal of Insect Physiology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/3/2015
Publication Date: 6/4/2015
Citation: Choi, M.Y., Sanscrainte, N.D., Estep, A.S., Vander Meer, R.K., Becnel, J.J. 2015. Identification and expression of the PBAN/pyrokinin gene in the sand fly Phlebotomus papatasi. Journal of Insect Physiology. 79:55-62.

Interpretive Summary: Leishmaniasis, a disease responsible for over 70,000 human deaths annually, is transmitted by several species of sand fly including Phlebotomus papatasi. Traditional methods of vector control, such as treating uniforms or bednets with insecticides, have not been very successful at controlling leishmaniasis outbreaks. Field tests with attractive toxic sugar baits (ATSB) have shown reductions in P. papatasi populations, and as more is learned about the molecular biology of these Old World vectors, better and more specific methods of control (such as ATSB or gene silencing aka RNAi) can be developed. In this study, we identified and characterized the first PBAN/pyrokinin gene from a sand fly. The PBAN/pyrokinin family of genes has been shown to have several critical functions in many orders of insects, ranging from stimulation of sex pheromone production to hindgut muscle contractions. This is the only known PBAN/pyrokinin gene with two transcriptional isoforms. Expression of the Phlpa-PBAN/pyrokinin gene was examined for egg, larval, pupal, and adult life stages, and the phylogeny of all available transcripts that code for PBAN/pyrokinin peptides is discussed.

Technical Abstract: The PBAN/pyrokinin peptides are a major neuropeptide (NP) family defined by a common FXPRL-NH2 or similar sequence at the C-termini. This family of peptides has been found in all insect groups investigated to date and is implicated in regulating various physiological functions, including pheromone biosynthesis and diapause, but other functions are still largely unknown in specific life stages. Here we identify two isoforms of pheromone biosynthesis activating neuropeptide (PBAN)/pyrokinin (PK) cDNA encoding the PBAN domain from the sand fly Phlebotomus papatasi. The two PBAN/PK isoforms have the same sequence except for a 63 nucleotide difference between the long and short forms, and contain no alternative mRNA splicing site. Two NP homologues are expected, including the PBAN; however, sequences corresponding to the diapause hormone and a-NP domains were not found in the P. papatasi PBAN/PK gene. The amino acid sequences corresponding to NP-ß domain are conserved in the gene, but there is no cleavage site for processing a functional peptide. Characterizing the expression of the isoforms in developmental stages and adults indicates that the short form is differentially transcribed depending on the life stage. The architecture of the P. papatasi PBAN/PK gene is simpler than most of the PBAN/PK genes elucidated to date. A phylogenetic analysis showed P. papatasi PBAN/PK grouped more closely with other nematoceran flies rather than higher flies.