Expression profiling and comparative analyses of seven midgut serine proteases from the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti.

ABSTRACT: Aedes aegypti utilizes blood for energy production, egg maturation and replenishment of maternal reserves. The principle midgut enzymes responsible for bloodmeal digestion are endoproteolytic serine-type proteases within the S1.A subfamily. While there are hundreds of serine protease-like genes in the A. aegypti genome, only five are known to be expressed in the midgut. We describe the cloning, sequencing and expression profiling of seven additional serine proteases and provide a genomic and phylogenetic assessment of these findings. Of the seven genes, four are constitutively expressed and three are transcriptionally induced upon blood feeding. The amount of transcriptional induction is strongly correlated among these genes. Alignments reveal that, in general, the conserved catalytic tria

SUBMITTER: Brackney DE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2878907 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature