The tetraspanin superfamily in insects

• Published in: Insect molecular biology Vol. 9; no. 6; pp. 581 - 590
• Main Authors: Todres, E., Nardi, J. B., Robertson, H. M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Science Ltd 01.12.2000
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Apis mellifera; Bees; Caenorhabditis elegans; Drosophila melanogaster; Female; Gene Expression; History, 18th Century; Insecta - chemistry; Insecta - classification; Insecta - genetics; intron evolution; Male; Manduca; Manduca sexta; Membrane Proteins - chemistry; Membrane Proteins - classification; Membrane Proteins - genetics; Molecular Sequence Data; Nerve Tissue Proteins - chemistry; Nerve Tissue Proteins - classification; Nerve Tissue Proteins - genetics; Phylogeny; Sequence Alignment; tetraspanin; TM4SF; TM4SF protein
• ISSN: 0962-1075; 1365-2583
• DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2583.2000.00222.x

We describe four members of the tetraspanin/TM4SF superfamily of proteins that were identified in expressed sequence tag projects on the antennae of Manduca sexta moths and Apis mellifera honey bees. The three moth genes are expressed in the sensillar epithelium of male antennae, and some are expressed in female antennae, haemocytes, wing scale cell primordia and/or embryonic tissues. These proteins are probably involved in diverse cellular processes, much like their vertebrate homologues. A phylogenetic analysis of all known tetraspanins, including thirty‐seven members of the superfamily revealed by the Drosophilamelanogaster genome and twenty in the nematode Caenorhabditiselegans genome, reveals some phylum‐specific gene amplification, in particular a contiguous array of eighteen genes in the D. melanogaster genome.