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Rouhová L, Podlahová Š, Kmet P, Žurovec M, Sehadová H, Sauman I. A comprehensive gene expression analysis of the unique three-layered cocoon of the cecropia moth, Hyalophora cecropia. INSECT BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2024; 171:104152. [PMID: 38944399 DOI: 10.1016/j.ibmb.2024.104152] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2023] [Revised: 06/25/2024] [Accepted: 06/26/2024] [Indexed: 07/01/2024]
Abstract
The larvae of the moth Hyalophora cecropia spin silk cocoons with morphologically distinct layers. We investigated the expression of the individual silk protein components of these cocoons in relation to the morphology of the silk gland and its affiliation to the different layers of the cocoon. The study used transcriptomic and proteomic analyses to identify 91 proteins associated with the silk cocoons, 63 of which have a signal peptide indicating their secretory nature. We checked the specificity of their expression in different parts of the SG and the presence of the corresponding protein products in each cocoon layer. Differences were observed among less abundant proteins with unclear functions. The representation of proteins in the inner envelope and intermediate space was similar, except for a higher proportion of probable contaminating proteins, mostly originating from the gut. On the other hand, the outer envelope contains a number of putative enzymes with unclear function. However, the protein most specific to the outer layer has sequence homology to putative serine/threonine kinase-like proteins and some adhesive proteins, and its closest homolog in Bombyx mori was found in the scaffold silk. This research provides valuable insights into the silk production of the cecropia moth, highlighting both similarities and differences to other moth species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lenka Rouhová
- Biology Centre CAS, Institute of Entomology, Branisovska 31, 370 05, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic; University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice, Faculty of Science, Branisovska 31, 370 05, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
| | - Šárka Podlahová
- Biology Centre CAS, Institute of Entomology, Branisovska 31, 370 05, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic; University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice, Faculty of Science, Branisovska 31, 370 05, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
| | - Peter Kmet
- Biology Centre CAS, Institute of Entomology, Branisovska 31, 370 05, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic; University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice, Faculty of Science, Branisovska 31, 370 05, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
| | - Michal Žurovec
- Biology Centre CAS, Institute of Entomology, Branisovska 31, 370 05, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic; University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice, Faculty of Science, Branisovska 31, 370 05, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic.
| | - Hana Sehadová
- Biology Centre CAS, Institute of Entomology, Branisovska 31, 370 05, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic; University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice, Faculty of Science, Branisovska 31, 370 05, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic.
| | - Ivo Sauman
- Biology Centre CAS, Institute of Entomology, Branisovska 31, 370 05, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic; University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice, Faculty of Science, Branisovska 31, 370 05, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic.
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Kucerova L, Zurovec M, Kludkiewicz B, Hradilova M, Strnad H, Sehnal F. Modular structure, sequence diversification and appropriate nomenclature of seroins produced in the silk glands of Lepidoptera. Sci Rep 2019; 9:3797. [PMID: 30846749 PMCID: PMC6405961 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-40401-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2018] [Accepted: 02/14/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Seroins are small lepidopteran silk proteins known to possess antimicrobial activities. Several seroin paralogs and isoforms were identified in studied lepidopteran species and their classification required detailed phylogenetic analysis based on complete and verified cDNA sequences. We sequenced silk gland-specific cDNA libraries from ten species and identified 52 novel seroin cDNAs. The results of this targeted research, combined with data retrieved from available databases, form a dataset representing the major clades of Lepidoptera. The analysis of deduced seroin proteins distinguished three seroin classes (sn1-sn3), which are composed of modules: A (includes the signal peptide), B (rich in charged amino acids) and C (highly variable linker containing proline). The similarities within and between the classes were 31–50% and 22.5–25%, respectively. All species express one, and in exceptional cases two, genes per class, and alternative splicing further enhances seroin diversity. Seroins occur in long versions with the full set of modules (AB1C1B2C2B3) and/or in short versions that lack parts or the entire B and C modules. The classes and the modular structure of seroins probably evolved prior to the split between Trichoptera and Lepidoptera. The diversity of seroins is reflected in proposed nomenclature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucie Kucerova
- Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre CAS, Branisovska 31, 370 05 Ceske, Budejovice, Czech Republic
| | - Michal Zurovec
- Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre CAS, Branisovska 31, 370 05 Ceske, Budejovice, Czech Republic. .,Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branisovska 31, 370 05 Ceske, Budejovice, Czech Republic.
| | - Barbara Kludkiewicz
- Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre CAS, Branisovska 31, 370 05 Ceske, Budejovice, Czech Republic
| | - Miluse Hradilova
- Institute of Molecular Genetics CAS, Videnska 1083, 142 20, Prague, 4, Czech Republic
| | - Hynek Strnad
- Institute of Molecular Genetics CAS, Videnska 1083, 142 20, Prague, 4, Czech Republic
| | - Frantisek Sehnal
- Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre CAS, Branisovska 31, 370 05 Ceske, Budejovice, Czech Republic. .,Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branisovska 31, 370 05 Ceske, Budejovice, Czech Republic.
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Tsubota T, Yamamoto K, Mita K, Sezutsu H. Gene expression analysis in the larval silk gland of the eri silkworm Samia ricini. INSECT SCIENCE 2016; 23:791-804. [PMID: 26178074 DOI: 10.1111/1744-7917.12251] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/23/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Insects produce silk for a range of purposes. In the Lepidoptera, silk is utilized as a material for cocoon production and serves to protect larvae from adverse environmental conditions or predators. Species in the Saturniidae family produce an especially wide variety of cocoons, for example, large, golden colored cocoons and those with many small holes. Although gene expression in the silk gland of the domestic silkworm (Bombyx mori L.) has been extensively studied, considerably fewer investigations have focused on members of the saturniid family. Here, we established expression sequence tags from the silk gland of the eri silkworm (Samia ricini), a saturniid species, and used these to analyze gene expression. Although we identified the fibroin heavy chain gene in the established library, genes for other major silk proteins, such as fibroin light chain and fibrohexamerin, were absent. This finding is consistent with previous reports that these latter proteins are lacking in saturniid silk. Recently, a series of fibrohexamerin-like genes were identified in the Bombyx genome. We used this information to conduct a detailed analysis of the library established here. This analysis identified putative homologues of these genes. We also found several genes encoding small silk protein molecules that are also present in the silk of other Lepidoptera. Gene expression patterns were compared between eri and domestic silkworm, and both conserved and nonconserved expression patterns were identified for the tested genes. Such differential gene expression might be one of the major causes of the differences in silk properties between these species. We believe that our study can be of value as a basic catalogue for silk gland gene expression, which will yield to the further understanding of silk evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takuya Tsubota
- Transgenic Silkworm Research Unit, National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, Ibaraki, 305-8634, Japan
| | - Kimiko Yamamoto
- Insect Genome Research Unit, National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, Ibaraki, 305-8634, Japan
| | - Kazuei Mita
- Insect Genome Research Unit, National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, Ibaraki, 305-8634, Japan
| | - Hideki Sezutsu
- Transgenic Silkworm Research Unit, National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, Ibaraki, 305-8634, Japan
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Zurovec M, Yonemura N, Kludkiewicz B, Sehnal F, Kodrik D, Vieira LC, Kucerova L, Strnad H, Konik P, Sehadova H. Sericin Composition in the Silk of Antheraea yamamai. Biomacromolecules 2016; 17:1776-87. [PMID: 27049111 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.6b00189] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
The silks produced by caterpillars consist of fibroin proteins that form two core filaments, and sericin proteins that seal filaments into a fiber and conglutinate fibers in the cocoon. Sericin genes are well-known in Bombyx mori (Bombycidae) but have received little attention in other insects. This paper shows that Antheraea yamamai (Saturniidae) contains five sericin genes very different from the three sericin genes of B. mori. In spite of differences, all known sericins are characterized by short exons 1 and 2 (out of 3-12 exons), expression in the middle silk gland section, presence of repeats with high contents of Ser and charged amino acid residues, and secretion as a sticky silk component soluble in hot water. The B. mori sericins represent tentative phylogenetic lineages (I) BmSer1 and orthologs in Saturniidae, (II) BmSer2, and (III) BmSer3 and related sericins of Saturniidae and of the pyralid Galleria mellonella. The lineage (IV) seems to be limited to Saturniidae. Concerted evolution of the sericin genes was apparently associated with gene amplifications as well as gene loses. Differences in the silk fiber morphology indicate that the cocktail of sericins linking the filaments and coating the fiber is modified during spinning. Silks are composite biomaterials of conserved function in spite of great diversity of their composition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michal Zurovec
- Entomological Institute, Biology Centre ASCR , Branišovská 31, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic.,Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia , Branišovská 1760, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Naoyuki Yonemura
- National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences Tsukuba , Ibaraki 305-8634, Japan
| | - Barbara Kludkiewicz
- Entomological Institute, Biology Centre ASCR , Branišovská 31, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - František Sehnal
- Entomological Institute, Biology Centre ASCR , Branišovská 31, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Dalibor Kodrik
- Entomological Institute, Biology Centre ASCR , Branišovská 31, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic.,Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia , Branišovská 1760, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Ligia Cota Vieira
- Entomological Institute, Biology Centre ASCR , Branišovská 31, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Lucie Kucerova
- Entomological Institute, Biology Centre ASCR , Branišovská 31, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Hynek Strnad
- Institute of Molecular Genetics ASCR , Vídeňská 1083, 142 20 Praha 4, Czech Republic
| | - Peter Konik
- Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia , Branišovská 1760, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Hana Sehadova
- Entomological Institute, Biology Centre ASCR , Branišovská 31, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
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Dong Y, Dai F, Ren Y, Liu H, Chen L, Yang P, Liu Y, Li X, Wang W, Xiang H. Comparative transcriptome analyses on silk glands of six silkmoths imply the genetic basis of silk structure and coloration. BMC Genomics 2015; 16:203. [PMID: 25886738 PMCID: PMC4372302 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-015-1420-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2014] [Accepted: 02/28/2015] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Silk has numerous unique properties that make it a staple of textile manufacturing for several thousand years. However, wider applications of silk in modern have been stalled due to limitations of traditional silk produced by Bombyx mori. While silk is commonly produced by B. mori, several wild non-mulberry silkmoths--especially members of family Saturniidae--produce silk with superior properties that may be useful for wider applications. Further utilization of such silks is hampered by the non-domestication status or limited culturing population of wild silkworms. To date there is insufficient basic genomic or transcriptomic data on these organisms or their silk production. RESULTS We sequenced and compared the transcriptomes of silk glands of six Saturniidae wild silkmoth species through next-generation sequencing technology, identifying 37758 ~ 51734 silkmoth unigenes, at least 36.3% of which are annotated with an e-value less than 10(-5). Sequence analyses of these unigenes identified a batch of genes specific to Saturniidae that are enriched in growth and development. Analyses of silk proteins including fibroin and sericin indicate intra-genus conservation and inter-genus diversification of silk protein features among the wild silkmoths, e.g., isoelectric points, hydrophilicity profile and amino acid composition in motifs of silk H-fibroin. Interestingly, we identified p25 in two of the silkmoths, which were previously predicted to be absent in Saturniidae. There are rapid evolutionary changes in sericin proteins, which might account for the highly heterogeneity of sericin in Saturniidae silkmoths. Within the six sikmoths, both colored-cocoon silkmoth specific transcripts and differentially expressed genes between the colored-cocoon and non-colored-cocoon silkmoths are significantly enriched in catalytic activity, especially transferase activity, suggesting potentially viable targets for future gene mining or genetic manipulation. CONCLUSIONS Our results characterize novel and potentially valuable gene resources of saturniid silkmoths that may facilitate future genetic improvement and modification of mulberry silkworms. Our results suggest that the disparate features of silk--coloration, retention, strength, etc. --are likely not only due to silk proteins, but also to the environment of silk assembly, and more specifically, that stable silk coloration exhibited by some Saturniidae silkmoths may be attributable to active catalytic progress in pigmentation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yang Dong
- Kunming University of Science and Technology, 727 South Jingming Road, Chenggong District, Kunming, Yunnan Province, 650500, China.,State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 32 East Jiaochang Road, Kunming, Yunnan Province, 650223, China
| | - Fangyin Dai
- State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Key Sericultural Laboratory of Agricultural Ministry, Institute of Sericulture and Systems Biology, Southwest University, 2 Tiansheng Road, Beibei District, Chongqing, 400715, China
| | - Yandong Ren
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 32 East Jiaochang Road, Kunming, Yunnan Province, 650223, China
| | - Hui Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 32 East Jiaochang Road, Kunming, Yunnan Province, 650223, China
| | - Lei Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 32 East Jiaochang Road, Kunming, Yunnan Province, 650223, China
| | - Pengcheng Yang
- Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 69 East Beichen Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100101, China
| | - Yanqun Liu
- Shenyang Agricultural University, 120 Dongling Road, Shenhe District, Shenyang Province, 110866, China
| | - Xin Li
- Center for Epigenetics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, 21205, USA
| | - Wen Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 32 East Jiaochang Road, Kunming, Yunnan Province, 650223, China.
| | - Hui Xiang
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 32 East Jiaochang Road, Kunming, Yunnan Province, 650223, China.
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