关键词: 中华剑角蝗；储存蛋白；序列分析；基因表达

Abstract:

Hexamerin is a key functional protein in insect growth and development. In order to investigate the structural and space-time expression characteristics of hexamerin (AcHex-2) from Acrida cinerea, the complete 2 217 bp cDNA of AcHex-2 was obtained by RACE technology, which encoded a 673-amino acid protein with a predicted molecular mass of 78.80 kDa. RT-PCR method was adopted to analyze the relative expression level of this genes space-time expression. The result exhibited that AcHex-2 gene was both expressed in nymphal and adult stages. The expression level remarkably increased in the third instar, and reached the top in the intermediate fifth instar, but the expression levels were reduced in the early adult stages. In adult males and females, the relative expression of AcHex-2 was significantly higher in abdomen, fat body, 12-day-old testes and ovaries compared to other tissues, midgut had the lowest expression level. The relative expression of AcHex-2 in testes and ovaries was significantly higher on 12th day adult than 5th day adult. The results showed that hexamerin AcHex-2 played an important role in all stages of development and the process of reproduction. This experiment provided references for further studies on hexamerin physiological function, its action mechanism, and pest control counter measures.

Key words: Acrida cinerea, hexamerin, sequence analysis, gene expression