scholarly journals In silico identification of effector proteins from generalist herbivore Spodoptera litura

BMC Genomics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vinod Kumar Prajapati ◽  
Mahendra Varma ◽  
Jyothilakshmi Vadassery

Abstract Background The common cutworm, Spodoptera litura Fabricius is a leaf and fruit feeding generalist insect of the order Lepidoptera and a destructive agriculture pest. The broad host range of the herbivore is due to its ability to downregulate plant defense across different plants. The identity of Spodoptera litura released effectors that downregulate plant defense are largely unknown. The current study aims to identify genes encoding effector proteins from salivary glands of S. litura (Fab.). Results Head and salivary glands of Spodoptera litura were used for de-novo transcriptome analysis and effector prediction. Eight hundred ninety-nine proteins from the head and 330 from salivary gland were identified as secretory proteins. Eight hundred eight proteins from the head and 267 from salivary gland proteins were predicted to be potential effector proteins. Conclusions This study is the first report on identification of potential effectors from Spodoptera litura salivary glands.

1994 ◽  
Vol 266 (6) ◽  
pp. G1146-G1155 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Mastrangeli ◽  
B. O'Connell ◽  
W. Aladib ◽  
P. C. Fox ◽  
B. J. Baum ◽  
...  

Gene transfer to the salivary glands holds the potential for the therapy of salivary gland disorders and for delivery of therapeutic proteins to the mouth and upper gastrointestinal tract. Administration of the recombinant adenovirus vectors Ad.RSV beta gal [coding for the intracellular protein beta-galactosidase (beta-Gal)] and Ad alpha 1AT [coding for human alpha 1-antitrypsin (alpha 1-AT), a secreted protein] to salivary gland cell lines in vitro demonstrated exogenous gene expression. Retrograde ductal injection of the Ad.RSV beta gal vector to rat salivary glands in vivo resulted in beta-Gal expression in acinar and ductal cells. Exposure of submandibular glands in vivo to Ad alpha 1AT resulted in expression of alpha 1-AT mRNA transcripts, de novo synthesis of alpha 1-AT, and secretion in the saliva. To evaluate the feasibility of adenovirus-mediated gene transfer to human glands, human minor salivary glands were infected ex vivo with Ad.RSV beta gal, and implanted into severe combined immunodeficient mice. Evaluation of the human tissue demonstrated beta-Gal activity. These observations demonstrate that adenovirus vectors are capable of direct delivery of genes to the salivary glands, suggesting a variety of possible gene therapy applications.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edouard Evangelisti ◽  
Anna Gogleva ◽  
Thomas Hainaux ◽  
Mehdi Doumane ◽  
Frej Tulin ◽  
...  

AbstractBackgroundPlant-pathogenic oomycetes are responsible for economically important losses on crops worldwide. Phytophthora palmivora, a broad-host-range tropical relative of the potato late blight pathogen, causes rotting diseases in many important tropical crops including papaya, cocoa, oil palm, black pepper, rubber, coconut, durian, mango, cassava and citrus.Transcriptomics have helped to identify repertoires of host-translocated microbial effector proteins which counteract defenses and reprogram the host in support of infection. As such, these studies have helped understanding of how pathogens cause diseases. Despite the importance of P. palmivora diseases, genetic resources to allow for disease resistance breeding and identification of microbial effectors are scarce.ResultsWe employed the model plant N. benthamiana to study the P. palmivora root infections at the cellular and molecular level. Time-resolved dual transcriptomics revealed different pathogen and host transcriptome dynamics. De novo assembly of P. palmivora transcriptome and semi-automated prediction and annotation of the secretome enabled robust identification of conserved infection-promoting effectors. We show that one of them, REX3, suppresses plant secretion processes. In a survey for early transcriptionally activated plant genes we identified a N. benthamiana gene specifically induced at infected root tips that encodes a peptide with danger-associated molecular features.ConclusionsThese results constitute a major advance in our understanding of P. palmivora diseases and establish extensive resources for P. palmivora pathogenomics, effector-aided resistance breeding and the generation of induced resistance to Phytophthora root infections. Furthermore, our approach to find infection relevant secreted genes is transferable to other pathogen-host interactions and not restricted to plants.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronel Pienaar ◽  
Daniel G. de Klerk ◽  
Minique H. de Castro ◽  
Jonathan Featherston ◽  
Ben J. Mans

AbstractTicks secrete proteins in their saliva that change over the course of feeding to modulate the host inflammation, immune responses, haemostasis or may cause paralysis. RNA next generation sequencing technologies can reveal the complex dynamics of tick salivary glands as generated from various tick life stages and/or males and females. The current study represents 15,115 Illumina sequenced contigs of the salivary gland transcriptome from male and female Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi ticks of early, mid and late feeding stages from 1320 separate assemblies using three short read assemblers. The housekeeping functional class contributed to the majority of the composition of the transcriptome (80%) but with lower expression (51%), while the secretory protein functional class represented only 14% of the transcriptome but 46% of the total coverage. Six percent had an unknown status contributing 3% of the overall expression in the salivary glands. Platelet aggregation inhibitors, blood clotting inhibitors and immune-modulators orthologous to the ancestral tick lineages were confirmed in the transcriptome and their differential expression during feeding in both genders observed. This transcriptome contributes data of importance to salivary gland biology and blood feeding physiology of non-model organisms.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yukiyo Yamasaki ◽  
Hiroka Sumioka ◽  
Mayu Takiguchi ◽  
Takuya Uemura ◽  
Yuka Kihara ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eloá Borges Luna ◽  
Pâmella Pinho Montovani ◽  
Rafaela Elvira Rozza-de-Menezes ◽  
Karin Soares Cunha

AbstractIntroductionNeurofibromin, a protein encoded by theNF1gene, is mutated in neurofibromatosis 1, one of the most common genetic diseases. Oral manifestations are common and a high prevalence of hyposalivation was recently described in individuals with neurofibromatosis 1. Although neurofibromin is ubiquitously expressed, its expression levels vary depending on the tissue type and developmental stage of the organism. The role of neurofibromin in the development, morphology, and physiology of salivary glands is unknown and a detailed expression of neurofibromin in human normal salivary glands has never been investigated.AimTo investigate the expression levels and distribution of neurofibromin in acinar and ductal cells of major and minor salivary glands of adult individuals without NF1.Material and methodTen samples of morphologically normal major and minor salivary glands (three samples of each gland: parotid, submandibular and minor salivary; and one sample of sublingual gland) from individuals without neurofibromatosis 1 were selected to assess neurofibromin expression through immunohistochemistry. Immunoquantification was performed by a digital method.ResultsNeurofibromin was expressed in the cytoplasm of both serous and mucous acinar cells, as well as in ducts from all the samples of salivary glands. Staining intensity varied from mild to strong depending on the type of salivary gland and region (acini or ducts). Ducts had higher neurofibromin expression than acinar cells (p = 0.003). There was no statistical association between the expression of neurofibromin and the type of the salivary gland, considering acini (p = 0.09) or ducts (p = 0.50) of the four salivary glands (parotid, submandibular, minor salivary, and sublingual gland). Similar results were obtained comparing the acini (p = 0.35) and ducts (p = 0.50) of minor and major salivary glands. Besides, there was no correlation between the expression of neurofibromin and age (p = 0.08), and sex (p = 0.79) of the individuals, considering simultaneously the neurofibromin levels of acini and duct (n = 34).ConclusionNeurofibromin is expressed in the cytoplasm of serous and mucous acinar cells, and ductal cells of salivary glands, suggesting that this protein is important for salivary gland function.


2020 ◽  
Vol 154 (6) ◽  
pp. 811-815
Author(s):  
Levon Katsakhyan ◽  
Virginia A LiVolsi ◽  
Ara A Chalian ◽  
Paul J Zhang

Abstract Objectives Carcinosarcomas of the salivary gland are rare neoplasms and have been described arising de novo or in association with pleomorphic adenoma (PA). PLAG1 and HMGA2 translocations are known to occur in PAs and carcinomas ex PA but are mutually exclusive. Methods We report a case of a carcinosarcoma in the parotid gland of a 77-year-old man with unusual anaplastic sarcomatoid giant cell morphology. Results Microscopically, a small separate PA was found adjacent to the carcinosarcoma. By conventional notion, the PA and carcinosarcoma would be considered related, as carcinosarcomas are well known to arise from PAs (carcinosarcoma ex PA). However, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) assay demonstrated PLAG1 translocation in the carcinosarcoma and HMGA2 translocation in the separate PA. Conclusions These findings support that the carcinosarcoma likely originated from another PA with a PLAG1 translocation or de novo but not from the coexisting PA harboring a different translocation. To our knowledge, the case is the first to demonstrate PLAG1 translocation by FISH in a sarcomatous component of any parotid gland tumor, which may help better classify these tumors. In addition, multiple PAs are commonly found in the salivary gland, and to our knowledge, our case is the first to demonstrate that the same parotid gland can host PAs and PA-related tumors with different translocations.


Toxins ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Romero-Gutiérrez ◽  
Carlos Santibáñez-López ◽  
Juana Jiménez-Vargas ◽  
Cesar Batista ◽  
Ernesto Ortiz ◽  
...  

To understand the diversity of scorpion venom, RNA from venomous glands from a sawfinger scorpion, Serradigitus gertschi, of the family Vaejovidae, was extracted and used for transcriptomic analysis. A total of 84,835 transcripts were assembled after Illumina sequencing. From those, 119 transcripts were annotated and found to putatively code for peptides or proteins that share sequence similarities with the previously reported venom components of other species. In accordance with sequence similarity, the transcripts were classified as potentially coding for 37 ion channel toxins; 17 host defense peptides; 28 enzymes, including phospholipases, hyaluronidases, metalloproteases, and serine proteases; nine protease inhibitor-like peptides; 10 peptides of the cysteine-rich secretory proteins, antigen 5, and pathogenesis-related 1 protein superfamily; seven La1-like peptides; and 11 sequences classified as “other venom components”. A mass fingerprint performed by mass spectrometry identified 204 components with molecular masses varying from 444.26 Da to 12,432.80 Da, plus several higher molecular weight proteins whose precise masses were not determined. The LC-MS/MS analysis of a tryptic digestion of the soluble venom resulted in the de novo determination of 16,840 peptide sequences, 24 of which matched sequences predicted from the translated transcriptome. The database presented here increases our general knowledge of the biodiversity of venom components from neglected non-buthid scorpions.


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