moth
not annotated - annotated - LINNAEUS only
21091811
Candidate chemosensory ionotropic receptors in a Lepidoptera.
A new family of candidate chemosensory ionotropic receptors (IRs) related to ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs) was recently discovered in Drosophila melanogaster. Through Blast analyses of an expressed sequenced tag library prepared from male antennae of the noctuid moth Spodoptera littoralis, we identified 12 unigenes encoding proteins related to D. melanogaster and Bombyx mori IRs. Their full length sequences were obtained and the analyses of their expression patterns suggest that they were exclusively expressed or clearly enriched in chemosensory organs. The deduced protein sequences were more similar to B. mori and D. melanogaster IRs than to iGluRs and showed considerable variations in the predicted ligand-binding domains; none have the three glutamate-interacting residues found in iGluRs, suggesting different binding specificities. Our data suggest that we identified members of the insect IR chemosensory receptor family in S. littoralis and we report here the first demonstration of IR expression in Lepidoptera.
21188839
Breathing some air into the single-species vacuum: multi-species responses to environmental change.
Studies of ecological responses to climate change have often analysed species independently of each other, yet interactions between species are fundamental aspects of ecology. Mutshinda, O'Hara & Woiwod (2011) used light-trapping data for Lepidoptera (moths) to examine population responses to intraspecific effects and effects of winter rainfall and temperature. They show how Bayesian hierarchical models can analyse residual correlations among species' responses, illustrating an approach to account for and measure dependencies that are not fully explained by the candidate explanatory variables. A key result is that the responses of the different moth species did not appear to have strong residual correlation (Mutshinda, O'Hara & Woiwod 2011). These analyses provide an approach for synthesising across species and can better inform ecological responses to environmental change.
21199020
Genetic analysis of the xenobiotic resistance-associated ABC gene subfamilies of the Lepidoptera.
Some ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters of subfamilies B, C and G confer resistance to xenobiotics including insecticides. We identified genes of these subfamilies expressed by the lepidopterans Trichoplusia ni and Bombyx mori. The B. mori genome includes eight, six and 13 ABC-B, -C and -G genes, respectively, which encode P-glycoprotein, multidrug resistance protein, MRP, and breast cancer resistance protein, BCRP, homologues. Among the ABC-C and -G subfamilies, gene duplication contributes to protein diversity. We have identified three ABC-B and two ABC-C T. ni genes. Analyses of the T. ni MRP (TrnMRP) revealed unique features, including the potential for TrnMRP4 hyperglycosylation and the alternative splicing of TrnMRP1. Taken together, these attributes of moth multidrug resistance-associated ABCs may confer distinct functional capacities to xenobiotic efflux.
21793956
Identification and expression analysis of nervous wreck, which is preferentially expressed in the brain of the male silkworm moth, Bombyx mori.
Sexually dimorphic neural circuits are essential for reproductive behaviour. The molecular basis of sexual dimorphism in the silkworm moth (Bombyx mori) brain, however, is unclear. We conducted cDNA subtraction screening and identified nervous wreck (Bmnwk), a synaptic growth regulatory gene, whose expression is higher in the male brain than in the female brain of the silkworm. Bmnwk was preferentially expressed in the brain at the late pupae and adult stages. In situ hybridization revealed that Bmnwk is highly expressed in the optic lobe of the male moth brain. These findings suggest that Bmnwk has a role in the development and/or maintenance of the optic lobe in the male silkworm brain.