昆虫乙酰胆碱酯酶基因研究进展

对昆虫乙酰胆碱酯酶（acetylcholinesterase, AChE,EC 3.1.1.7）的基因结构和表达等方面的研究进展进行了综述。分析了昆虫乙酰胆碱酯酶基因的结构,包括10个外显子的特征。对已经报道的昆虫AChE基因进行了系统归纳,并基于已知全序列的昆虫AChE基因,进行了昆虫AChE基因的分子进化分析。对昆虫AChE基因的结构特点及其功能,以及昆虫AChE基因的活性位点、AChE的变构与昆虫抗药性的关系进行了探讨。最后对昆虫AChE基因研究中存在的问题和前景进行了分析和展望。     

酯酶基因扩增及突变与昆虫抗药性

有机磷和氨基甲酸酯类杀虫剂的大量使用导致昆虫对其产生抗药性。酯酶是昆虫体内重要的解毒代谢酶,酯酶基因表达量上升和点突变使其代谢或结合杀虫剂的能力增强是昆虫对常用农药产生抗药性的2个重要原因。文章概述昆虫酯酶基因扩增及突变所导致的抗药性,进一步分析了酯酶突变对蛋白结构和功能的影响。     

乙酰胆碱酯酶性质改变与昆虫抗药性的关系

乙酰胆碱酯酶是生物神经传导中的一种关键性酶,同时又是有机磷和氨基甲酸酯杀虫剂的靶标,因此一直是人们研究的热点。就近年来昆虫乙酰胆碱酯酶(AChE)在生化和分子生物学方面的研究进展、昆虫AChE基因结构及表达的变化对动力学参数、昆虫抗药性的影响机制以及害虫与天敌AChE的比较研究进行了简要综述。     

哺乳类凋亡细胞表达乙酰胆碱酯酶（AChE）的研究介绍

线虫和哺乳类参与调节细胞调亡的基因家族分别是ced－3／caspase、ced-4／apafl和ced－9／bcf－2。目前发现Caspase家族有10个成员,其基因产物是半脱氨酸蛋白酶类问。Caspase家族是决定细胞凋亡的关键,被称为细胞凋亡的刽子手（executioner）［2］。核酸内切酶也参与了细胞凋亡过程［3］。然而,酯酶是否参与了细胞调亡报道很少。我们在国际上首先发现哺乳类调亡细胞表达带恳亲水型AChE,并且不同的动物间具有很好的保守性［4］。1凋亡小体中AChE活性现象的初次发现1995年9月至1996年9月为了对Han和Caen提出的内皮细胞和巨核细胞是否…     

乙酰胆碱酯酶与拟胆碱酯酶

胆碱酯酶分为乙酰胆碱酯酶和拟胆碱酯酶两类,这两类酶的分子类型十分相似。许多学者在催化性质、热稳定性及免疫学性质等方面对它们进行了大量的平行性研究,进而对二者的相互关系及拟胆碱酯酶的生理学作用从分子生物学的角度进行了有益的探讨。本文着重叙述了近年来这几个方面主要的研究进展。     

家蝇中乙酰胆碱酯酶、羧酸酯酶和多功能氧化酶活性与抗药性的关系

本文对几种抗药性和敏感性家蝇品系的乙酰胆碱酯酶(AChE)、羧酸酯酶及多功能氧化酶(MFO)进行了测定.结果表明:①抗药性品系和敏感性品系的AChE活力差异不大, 有机磷抗性品系的AChE对对氧磷的不敏感性比敏感性家蝇明显增大.②某些抗药性家蝇的羧酸酯酶活力比敏感性家蝇大.③抗药性家蝇的MFO活力(O-脱甲基和环氧化)比敏感性家蝇均有不同程度的增高.④二氯苯醚菊酯抗性家蝇对有机磷有负交互抗性.     

乙酰胆碱酯酶敏感性的变化与家蝇抗药性的关系

结合抗性机理, 对四个家蝇(Musca domestica vicina)品系头部的乙酰胆碱酯酶(AchE)对底物和抑制剂反应的动力学进行了研究.结果表明, AchE敏感性的降低是引起两个有机磷药剂(OP)抗性品系DDVP-R和Trichl-R对OP交互抗性的一个主要因子.Trichl-R对二氯苯醚菊酯无抗性, 而二氯苯醚菊酯抗性品系2Cl—R对所测定的OP有负交互抗性, 并且它的AchE对OP的敏感性较正常品系(NP)AchE的敏感性要高.AchE敏感性的变化, 反应在酶结构上, 主要是酶对抑制剂的亲和性(K_d)的变化, 而磷酸化速率(K₂)影响不大.同时对AchE的底物和抑制剂结合位点及结构变化进行了分析和探讨.     

Expression of two types of acetylcholinesterase gene from the silkworm, Bombyx mori, in insect cells

Complementary DNAs encoding two types of acetylcholinesterase （ACHE） were isolated from the silkworm, Bombyx mori. The type 1 （Bmacel） and type 2 （Bmace2） ORFs are 2052 and 1917 bp in length, respectively. Both the complete ORFs of the Bmaces and C- terminal truncated forms were recombined into the Bacmid baculovirus vector under the control of the polyhedrin promoter and expressed in Trichoplusia ni （Tn-5B 1-4） cells. The resulting products exhibited ACHE activity and glycosylation of the expressed proteins. An inhibition assay indicated that the ace2-type enzyme was more sensitive than the acel-type enzyme to inhibition by eserine and paraoxon.     

Sequence variation and regulatory variation in acetylcholinesterase genes contribute to insecticide resistance in different populations of Leptinotarsa decemlineata

Although insect herbivores are known to evolve resistance to insecticides through multiple genetic mechanisms, resistance in individual species has been assumed to follow the same mechanism. While both mutations in the target site insensitivity and increased amplification are known to contribute to insecticide resistance, little is known about the degree to which geographic populations of the same species differ at the target site in a response to insecticides. We tested structural (e.g., mutation profiles) and regulatory (e.g., the gene expression of Ldace1 and Ldace2, AChE activity) differences between two populations (Vermont, USA and Belchow, Poland) of the Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata in their resistance to two commonly used groups of insecticides, organophosphates, and carbamates. We established that Vermont beetles were more resistant to azinphos‐methyl and carbaryl insecticides than Belchow beetles, despite a similar frequency of resistance‐associated alleles (i.e., S291G) in the Ldace2 gene. However, the Vermont population had two additional amino acid replacements (G192S and F402Y) in the Ldace1 gene, which were absent in the Belchow population. Moreover, the Vermont population showed higher expression of Ldace1 and was less sensitive to AChE inhibition by azinphos‐methyl oxon than the Belchow population. Therefore, the two populations have evolved different genetic mechanisms to adapt to organophosphate and carbamate insecticides.     

Circadian variation in the acetylcholinesterase activity of specific rat brain areas

Abstract

Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity of the adenohypophysis, cerebellum, cerebral cortex, hypothalamus, amygdala, hippocampus, midbrain, pons, medulla oblongata and caudate nucleus was determined by a spectro‐photometric method in adult, male rats adapted toan LD 12:12cycle. Results of the study show that AChE activity is highest during the light phase and lowest during the dark phase of the cycle in all the brain areas studied except the adenohypophysis, cerebellum, hippocampus and hypothalamus. These findings expand earlier observations on the circadian variation in rat brain AChE activity and suggests a relationship with reported circadian variation in the acetylcholine levels of rat brain.     

A single nucleotide polymorphism in the acetylcholinesterase gene of the predatory mite Kampimodromus aberrans (Acari: Phytoseiidae) is associated with chlorpyrifos resistance

The predatory mite Kampimodromus aberrans (Oudemans) (Acari: Phytoseiidae) is one of the most important biocontrol agents of herbivorous mites in European perennial crops. The use of pesticides, such as organophosphate insecticides (OPs), is a major threat to the success of biocontrol strategies based on predatory mites in these cropping systems. However, resistance to OPs in K. aberrans has recently been reported. The present study investigated the target site resistance mechanisms that are potentially involved in OP insensitivity. In the herbivorous mite Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae), resistance to OPs is due to a modified and insensitive acetylcholinesterase (AChE; EC: 3.1.1.7) that bears amino acid substitution F331W (AChE Torpedo numbering). To determine whether the predators and prey have evolved analogous molecular mechanisms to withstand the same selective pressure, the AChE cDNA from a putative orthologous gene was cloned and sequenced from susceptible and resistant strains of K. aberrans. No synonymous mutation coding for a G119S substitution was determined to be strongly associated with the resistant phenotype instead of the alternative F331W. Because the same mutation in T. urticae AChE was not associated with comparable levels of chlorpyrifos resistance, the role of the G119S substitution in defining insensitive AChE in K. aberrans remains unclear. G119S AChE genotyping can be useful in ecological studies that trace the fate of resistant strains after field release or in marker-assisted selection of improved populations of K. aberrans to achieve multiple resistance phenotypes through gene pyramiding. The latent complexity of the target site resistance in K. aberrans vs. that of T. urticae is also discussed in the context of data from the genome project of the predatory mite Metaseiulus occidentalis (Nesbitt) (Acari: Phytoseiidae).     

Biochemical genetics of altered acetylcholinesterase resistance to insecticides in the house fly

Resistance to the organophosphate insecticide tetrachlorvinphos was examined in a house fly (Musca domestica L.) strain with an altered acetylcholinesterase (AChE) of decreased sensitivity to inhibition by the insecticide. Genetic tests showed that both resistance and the altered AChE were controlled by semidominant gene(s) on chromosome II. The gene for resistance was five crossover units from the mutant marker stubby wing (stw). A house fly strain was prepared in which resistance was introduced in to a susceptible stw strain by recombination. Biochemical assays revealed that the altered AChE was introduced along with resistance. Assays of the AChE of resistant and susceptible stw strains by two independent methods showed that the enzyme from resistant flies was 30 times more slowly inhibited by tetrachlorvinphos than the enzyme from susceptible flies.This work was supported in part by NIH Grant ES 00901.Technical Article 13340, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station.     

Seasonal variation in antifungal,antibacterial and acetylcholinesterase activity in seven South African seaweeds

Seven seaweeds were collected from the intertidal zone at Rocky Bay on the east coast of South Africa. The species were Caulerpa racemosa var. laetevirens, Codium capitatum, Halimeda cuneata, Ulva fasciata, Amphiroa bowerbankii, Amphiroa ephedraea and Dictyota humifusa. Six bimonthly collections were made within a few days of the new moon to correspond with spring tide. Methanol extracts were tested for antifungal, antibacterial and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory activity. No seasonal variation was observed in antifungal activity, with D. humifusa extracts being the most active. The seaweed extracts inhibited the growth of the Gram-positive bacteria, with Bacillus subtilis being more susceptible than Staphylococcus aureus. Dictyota humifusa was the only seaweed able to inhibit the Gram-negative Escherichia coli. Seasonal variation in antibacterial activity was observed, with the extracts generally having no activity in summer and having antibacterial activity in late winter (July collection) and early spring (September and November collections). Dictyota humifusa was the most effective seaweed species, having antibacterial activity throughout the year. All the extracts tested had AChE inhibitory activity, with no seasonal variation in the levels of activity. Dictyota humifusa extracts were the most effective at inhibiting AChE activity.