Affiliation:
1. Boyce Thompson Institute, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Baculovirus F (fusion) proteins are found in the envelopes of budded virions. Recently a
Drosophila melanogaster
gene (CG4715) that encodes a protein with sequence similarity to baculovirus F proteins was discovered. To examine similarities and differences with baculovirus F proteins, we cloned the
D. melanogaster
cellular F (
Dm-cF
) protein gene and analyzed
Dm-cF
expression and localization. The predicted Dm-cF protein sequence lacks a furin cleavage site, and transiently expressed Dm-cF showed no protein cleavage and no detectable membrane fusion activity. In cell localization studies, transiently expressed Dm-cF was localized to intracellular organelles in
D. melanogaster
S2 cells, unlike baculovirus F proteins, which localize to cellular plasma membranes. Using reverse transcriptase PCR and Western blot analysis to examine
Dm-cF
expression in animals, we detected
Dm-cF
expression in both larval and adult
D. melanogaster
cells. However,
Dm-cF
expression was detected only in third instar larvae and adults, suggesting that
Dm-cF
expression may be developmentally regulated. We also identified genes related to
Dm-cF
in the genomes of two other
Drosophila
species,
Drosophila yakuba
and
Drosophila pseudoobscura
, and the mosquito
Anopheles gambiae
. These observations suggest that
f
genes may be present in the genomes of many insects. Conservation within and between 22 baculovirus and 4 insect F proteins was examined in detail. These studies demonstrate that
Dm-cF
is expressed in
D. melanogaster
and suggest that if baculovirus
f
genes are derived from a host cellular
f
gene, the function appears to have changed substantially upon adaptation to the baculovirus infection cycle.
Publisher
American Society for Microbiology
Subject
Virology,Insect Science,Immunology,Microbiology
Cited by
16 articles.
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