Characterization of Argonaute family members in the silkworm, Bombyx mori  

作　　者：Gen-Hong Wang Liang Jiang Li Zhu Ting-Cai Cheng Wei-Huan Niu Ya-Fei Yan Qing-you Xia 

机构地区：[1]State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, School of Biotechnology, Southwest University [2]Institute of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China

出　　处：《Insect Science》2013年第1期78-91,共14页昆虫科学（英文版）

摘　　要：The Argonaute protein family is a highly conserved group of proteins, which have been implicated in RNA silencing in both plants and animals. Here, four members of the Argonaute family were systemically identified based on the genome sequence of Bombyx mori. Based on their sequence similarity, BmAgol and BmAgo2 belong to the Ago subfamily, while BmAgo3 and BmPiwi are in the Piwi subfamily. Phylogenetic analysis reveals that silkworm Argonaute family members are conserved in insects. Conserved amino acid residues involved in recognition of the 5＇ end of the small RNA guide strand and of the conserved （aspartate, aspartate and histidine [DDH]） motif present in their PIWI domains suggest that these four Argonaute family members may have conserved slicer activities. The results of microarray expression analysis show that there is a low expression level for B. mori Argonaute family members in different tissues and different developmental stages, except for BmPiwi. All four B. mori Argonaute family members are upregulated upon infection with B. mori nucleopolyhedrovirus. The complete coding sequence of BmPiwi, the homolog of Drosophila piwi, was cloned and its expression occurred mainly in the area where spermatogonia and spermatocytes appear. Our results provide an overview of the B. mori Argonaute family members and suggest that they may have multiple roles. In addition, this is also the first report, to our knowledge, of the response of RNA silencing machinery to DNA virus infection in insects.The Argonaute protein family is a highly conserved group of proteins, which have been implicated in RNA silencing in both plants and animals. Here, four members of the Argonaute family were systemically identified based on the genome sequence of Bombyx mori. Based on their sequence similarity, BmAgol and BmAgo2 belong to the Ago subfamily, while BmAgo3 and BmPiwi are in the Piwi subfamily. Phylogenetic analysis reveals that silkworm Argonaute family members are conserved in insects. Conserved amino acid residues involved in recognition of the 5＇ end of the small RNA guide strand and of the conserved （aspartate, aspartate and histidine [DDH]） motif present in their PIWI domains suggest that these four Argonaute family members may have conserved slicer activities. The results of microarray expression analysis show that there is a low expression level for B. mori Argonaute family members in different tissues and different developmental stages, except for BmPiwi. All four B. mori Argonaute family members are upregulated upon infection with B. mori nucleopolyhedrovirus. The complete coding sequence of BmPiwi, the homolog of Drosophila piwi, was cloned and its expression occurred mainly in the area where spermatogonia and spermatocytes appear. Our results provide an overview of the B. mori Argonaute family members and suggest that they may have multiple roles. In addition, this is also the first report, to our knowledge, of the response of RNA silencing machinery to DNA virus infection in insects.

关 键 词：ARGONAUTE BMNPV Bombyx mori RNA silencing SPERMATOGENESIS 

分 类 号：Q98[生物学—人类学] S884.51[农业科学—特种经济动物饲养]