Tang Yu, Chen Huaqing, Lin Zhinan, Zhang Lei, Upadhyay Archana, Liao Chenghong, Merkler David J, Han Qian
Laboratory of Tropical Veterinary Medicine and Vector Biology, School of Life Sciences, Hainan University, Haikou, China.
One Health Institute, Hainan University, Haikou, China.
Insect Sci. 2023 Apr;30(2):569-581. doi: 10.1111/1744-7917.13100. Epub 2022 Aug 23.
Arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase (aaNAT), considered a potential new insecticide target, catalyzes the acetylation of arylalkylamine substrates such as serotonin and dopamine and, hence, mediates diverse functions in insects. However, the origin of insect aaNATs (iaaNATs) and the evolutionary process that generates multiple aaNATs in mosquitoes remain largely unknown. Here, we have analyzed the genomes of 33 species to explore and expand our understanding of the molecular evolution of this gene family in detail. We show that aaNAT orthologs are present in Bacteria, Cephalochordata, Chondrichthyes, Cnidaria, Crustacea, Mammalia, Placozoa, and Teleoste, as well as those from a number of insects, but are absent in some species of Annelida, Echinozoa, and Mollusca as well as Arachnida. Particularly, more than 10 aaNATs were detected in the Culicinae subfamily of mosquitoes. Molecular evolutionary analysis of aaNAT/aaNAT-like genes in mosquitoes reveals that tandem duplication events led to gene expansion in the Culicinae subfamily of mosquitoes more than 190 million years ago. Further selection analysis demonstrates that mosquito aaNATs evolved under strongly positive pressures that generated functional diversity following gene duplication events. Overall, this study may provide novel insights into the molecular evolution of the aaNAT family in mosquitoes.
芳基烷基胺N - 乙酰基转移酶(aaNAT)被认为是一种潜在的新型杀虫剂靶标,它催化血清素和多巴胺等芳基烷基胺底物的乙酰化反应,从而在昆虫中介导多种功能。然而,昆虫aaNATs(iaaNATs)的起源以及在蚊子中产生多个aaNATs的进化过程在很大程度上仍然未知。在此,我们分析了33个物种的基因组,以详细探索和扩展我们对该基因家族分子进化的理解。我们发现aaNAT直系同源基因存在于细菌、头索动物、软骨鱼纲、刺胞动物门、甲壳纲、哺乳动物、扁盘动物门和硬骨鱼纲,以及一些昆虫中,但在某些环节动物、海胆纲和软体动物以及蛛形纲物种中不存在。特别是,在蚊子的库蚊亚科中检测到了10多个aaNATs。对蚊子中aaNAT/aaNAT样基因的分子进化分析表明,串联重复事件导致了1.9亿多年前蚊子库蚊亚科中的基因扩张。进一步的选择分析表明,蚊子aaNATs在强烈的正选择压力下进化,在基因复制事件后产生了功能多样性。总体而言,这项研究可能为蚊子中aaNAT家族的分子进化提供新的见解。