Transcriptional profiling reveals multifunctional roles for transferrin in the honeybee, Apis mellifera.

ABSTRACT: Transferrins belong to a family of iron-binding proteins that have been implicated in innate immunity and in vitellogenesis in insects. Here we have sequenced and characterized a full-length cDNA encoding a putative iron-binding transferrin (AmTRF) in the honeybee. AmTRF shows high level of sequence identity with transferrins in both vertebrates and insects (26-46%) suggesting that the primary function of the predicted 712 amino acid protein is binding and transporting of iron. AmTRF is expressed ubiquitously, but particularly high levels of its mRNA are found in the central brain and in the compound eye. Using northern blotting and a microarray based approach we have examined the levels of AmTRF mRNA by expression profiling under a wide range of conditions including developmental stages,

SUBMITTER: Kucharski R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC524666 | biostudies-literature | 2003

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature