Isolation and expression profiling of transformer 2 gene in Aedes aegypti / 南方医科大学学报

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To isolate, identify and analyze the sex-determining gene Transformer 2 (Aaetra2) of the major vector mosquito Aedes aegypti.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>tBLASTn program, RT-PCR and RACE methods were used to obtain the full-length cDNA of Aaetra2. Multiple alignments of nucleotide and amino acid sequences were conducted, and the different domains in tra2 protein were indentified. RT-PCR of the total RNA extracted from different tissue from the mosquitoes in different developmental stages was performed using specific primers.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Two genes, namely Aaetra2-α and Aaetra2-β, were identified in different supercontig locations. The multi-transcripts were expressed by means of alternative promoters or terminators. The different domains in tra2 protein were defined as RS-rich N-terminal region, RNA recognition motif-RRM, linker region, and RS-rich C-terminal region. Both Aaetra2-α and Aaetra2-β showed sustained expression throughout the developmental stages of Ae.aegypti, and in all the tissues without a sex specificity.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Aaetra2 gene has multiple isoforms and is mapped to multiple locations in the genome. Aaetra2 has conservative functional domains of the sex-determining gene tra2. For Ae.agypti, Aaetra2 shows the potential as a new target for release of insects carrying a dominant lethal (RIDL) technology based on transgenic mosquitoes.</p>