Neuropeptide precursor gene discovery in the Chagas disease vector Rhodnius prolixus

S. ONS; M. STERKEL; L. DIAMBRA; H. URLAUB; R. RIVERA-POMAR

INSECT MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Año: 2011 vol. 20 p. 29 - 44

0962-1075

We show a straightforward workflow combining homologysearch in Rhodnius prolixus genome sequencewith cloning by rapid amplification of cDNA ends andmass spectrometry. We have identified 32 genes andtheir transcripts that encode a number of neuropeptideprecursors leading to 194 putative peptides. We validatedby mass spectrometry 82 of those predicted neuropeptidesin the brain of R. prolixus to achieve the firstcomprehensive genomic, transcriptomic and neuropeptidomicanalysis of an insect disease vector. Comparisonsof available insect neuropeptide sequencesrevealed that the R. prolixus genome contains most ofthe conserved neuropeptides in insects, many of themdisplaying specific features at the sequence level.Some gene families reported here are identified for thefirst time in the order Hemiptera, a highly biodiversegroup of insects that includes many human, animal andplant disease agents.