The Key Laboratory of Monitoring and Management of Plant Diseases and Insects, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, 1 Weigang Street, Nanjing 210095, China.
Genome. 2013 Jun;56(6):359-66. doi: 10.1139/gen-2013-0051. Epub 2013 Jul 16.
Serpins, also called serine proteinase inhibitors, are widely distributed in eukaryotes. In insects, serpins play important roles in regulating immune responses, gut physiology, and other processes. Here, we report the cloning and characterization of 12 serpin-like cDNAs from the striped rice stem borer (Chilo suppressalis), a major rice pest. The putative proteins share significant sequence similarity with known insect serpins, especially those from lepidopterons. Analysis of functional domains revealed that nine of the cloned serpins are putative trypsin- or chymotrypsin-like inhibitors; two are mixed-type serpins that may act as inhibitors for trypsins, elastases, or thrombin; and the remaining one is truncate. The potential functions of these serpins in interacting with host plants were also investigated by analyzing tissue-specific expression and the impact of different host plant genotypes on gene expression. Our results provide a foundation for future studies on the role of serpins in gut physiology in the striped rice stem borer, and also useful information for comparative analyses of serpins from different insect species.
丝氨酸蛋白酶抑制剂（Serpins）也被称为丝氨酸蛋白酶抑制剂，广泛分布于真核生物中。在昆虫中，丝氨酸蛋白酶抑制剂在调节免疫反应、肠道生理学和其他过程中发挥着重要作用。在这里，我们报道了来自水稻螟（Chilo suppressalis）的 12 种丝氨酸蛋白酶抑制剂样 cDNA 的克隆和特征。这些假定的蛋白质与已知的昆虫丝氨酸蛋白酶抑制剂具有显著的序列相似性，尤其是鳞翅目昆虫的丝氨酸蛋白酶抑制剂。功能域分析表明，克隆的 12 种丝氨酸蛋白酶抑制剂样蛋白中有 9 种是潜在的胰蛋白酶或糜蛋白酶抑制剂；2 种是混合型丝氨酸蛋白酶抑制剂，可能作为胰蛋白酶、弹性蛋白酶或凝血酶的抑制剂；其余的是截短型的。通过分析组织特异性表达和不同宿主植物基因型对基因表达的影响，我们还研究了这些丝氨酸蛋白酶抑制剂在与宿主植物相互作用中的潜在功能。我们的研究结果为进一步研究丝氨酸蛋白酶抑制剂在水稻螟肠道生理学中的作用提供了基础，同时也为来自不同昆虫物种的丝氨酸蛋白酶抑制剂的比较分析提供了有用的信息。
