Neuropeptide and neurohormone precursors in the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum

J. Huybrechts, J. Bonhomme, S. Minoli, N. Prunier-Leterme, A. Dombrovsky, M. Abdel-Latief, A. Robichon, J. A. Veenstra, D. Tagu
Insect Molecular Biology. 2010-02-23; 19: 87-95
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2583.2009.00951.x

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Huybrechts J(1), Bonhomme J, Minoli S, Prunier-Leterme N, Dombrovsky A, Abdel-Latief M, Robichon A, Veenstra JA, Tagu D.

Author information:
(1)Research Group of Functional Genomics and Proteomics, K.U. Leuven, Belgium.

Aphids respond to environmental changes by developing alternative phenotypes with
differing reproductive modes. Parthenogenetic reproduction occurs in spring and
summer, whereas decreasing day lengths in autumn provoke the production of sexual
forms. Changing environmental signals are relayed by brain neuroendocrine signals
to the ovarioles. We combined bioinformatic analyses with brain peptidomics and
cDNA analyses to establish a catalogue of pea aphid neuropeptides and
neurohormones. 42 genes encoding neuropeptides and neurohormones were identified,
of which several were supported by expressed sequence tags and/or peptide mass
analyses. Interesting features of the pea aphid peptidome are the absence of
genes coding for corazonin, vasopressin and sulfakinin and the presence of 10
different genes coding insulin related peptides, one of which appears to be very
abundantly expressed.

 

Auteurs Bordeaux Neurocampus