Isolation and Characterization of Immune Suppressive Genes through Bioinformatic Analysis of Venom Glands Transcriptome of Bracon hebetor (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)

Female parasitoid injects in its host a blend of reproductive secretions during oviposition containing mainly ovarian fluids and venom to circumvent the host immune response. In vitro studies have revealed that venom inhibits the motility and aggregation of the host larval hemocytes. Bioactive genes with immunosuppressive activity were investigated by screening of the venom gland Transcriptome of the wasp Bracon hebetor by using manual BLAST X analysis and functional annotation of the selected contigs. The 5' ends of the selected genes were obtained using RACER kit (Invitrogen) and full length genes were isolated. Cloning and sequencing of the genes were performed and further characterized using bioinformatic tools i.e., Expasy Translate Tool, Clustal Omega and SignalP. Deduced amino acid sequences of the isolated genes (Venom acid phosphatase, Tryptase-2 and CTD nuclear envelope phosphatase) showed significant homologies with other Braconid species, whereas Tiyptase-2 and CTD nuclear envelope phosphatase showed good secretory role. Further, in depth studies are required for the expression of isolated genes and their functional analysis. This is the first report of the characterization of immune suppressive genes from the venom gland of B. hebetor which may be useful for developing benign control tactics for insect pests of agricultural crops. (C) 2019 Friends Science PublishersHEC (Higher Education Commission), Government of Pakistan [1-8/HEC/HRD/2016/5657]Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu