Presence of cystine-containing antifreeze proteins in the spruce bud worm, Choristoneura fumiferana

1983 ◽  
Vol 61 (10) ◽  
pp. 2324-2328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Choy L. Hew ◽  
Ming Hsiung Kao ◽  
Ying-Peng So ◽  
Kiok-Puan Lim

Using a trichloroacetic acid precipitation procedure and gel permeation high performance liquid chromatography, we have demonstrated the presence of an antifreeze protein in the second instar larvae of the spruce budworm Choristoneura fumiferana. This protein contained a significant amount of half-cystine and only a modest content of alanine. In a radioimmunoassay, it competed with antisera against a cystine-containing antifreeze protein from sea raven, Hemitripterus americanus, thus indicating their immunological cross-reactivity and possibly, some structural homology.

1992 ◽  
Vol 70 (4) ◽  
pp. 810-814 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhiyuan Gong ◽  
Garth L. Fletcher ◽  
Choy L. Hew

The presence of fish antifreeze protein (AFP) mRNA was examined in a variety of tissues from the winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus), sea raven (Hemitripterus americanus), and ocean pout (Macrozoarces americanus), each of which contains one of the three known AFP types. Northern blot analysis indicates that whereas the AFP mRNA is restricted to liver in sea raven (type II AFP), significant amounts of mRNA are present in many other tissues in both winter flounder (type I) and ocean pout (type III). These results indicate that in sea raven, antifreeze protein synthesis only occurs in the liver, whereas in the ocean pout and winter flounder, synthesis occurs in many tissues throughout the body. These investigations are relevant to understanding the mode of action of these polypeptides.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cécile Beck ◽  
Philippe Desprès ◽  
Sylvie Paulous ◽  
Jessica Vanhomwegen ◽  
Steeve Lowenski ◽  
...  

West Nile virus (WNV), Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), and tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) are flaviviruses responsible for severe neuroinvasive infections in humans and horses. The confirmation of flavivirus infections is mostly based on rapid serological tests such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs). These tests suffer from poor specificity, mainly due to antigenic cross-reactivity among flavivirus members. Robust diagnosis therefore needs to be validated through virus neutralisation tests (VNTs) which are time-consuming and require BSL3 facilities. The flavivirus envelope (E) glycoprotein ectodomain is composed of three domains (D) named DI, DII, and DIII, with EDIII containing virus-specific epitopes. In order to improve the serological differentiation of flavivirus infections, the recombinant soluble ectodomain of WNV E (WNV.sE) and EDIIIs (rEDIIIs) of WNV, JEV, and TBEV were synthesised using theDrosophilaS2 expression system. Purified antigens were covalently bonded to fluorescent beads. The microspheres coupled to WNV.sE or rEDIIIs were assayed with about 300 equine immune sera from natural and experimental flavivirus infections and 172 nonimmune equine sera as negative controls. rEDIII-coupled microspheres captured specific antibodies against WNV, TBEV, or JEV in positive horse sera. This innovative multiplex immunoassay is a powerful alternative to ELISAs and VNTs for veterinary diagnosis of flavivirus-related diseases.


1997 ◽  
Vol 129 (2) ◽  
pp. 291-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert K. Lawrence ◽  
William J. Mattson ◽  
Robert A. Haack

AbstractSynchrony of insect and host tree phenologies has often been suggested as an important factor influencing the susceptibility of white spruce, Picea glauca (Moench) Voss, and other hosts to the spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana (Clemens) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). We evaluated this hypothesis by caging several cohorts of spruce budworm larvae on three white spruce populations at different phenological stages of the host trees, and then comparing budworm performance with host phenology and variation of 13 foliar traits. The beginning of the phenological window of susceptibility in white spruce occurs several weeks prior to budbreak, and the end of the window is sharply defined by the end of shoot growth. Performance was high for the earliest budworm cohorts that we tested. These larvae began feeding 3–4 weeks prior to budbreak and completed their larval development prior to the end of shoot elongation. Optimal synchrony occurred when emergence preceded budbreak by about 2 weeks. Larval survival was greater than 60% for individuals starting development 1–3 weeks prior to budbreak, but decreased to less than 10% for those starting development 2 or more weeks after budbreak and thus completing development after shoot elongation ceased. High performance by the budworm was most strongly correlated with high levels of foliar nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, copper, sugars, and water and low levels of foliar calcium, phenolics, and toughness. These results suggest that advancing the usual phenological window of white spruce (i.e. advancing budbreak prior to larval emergence) or retarding budworm phenology can have a large negative effect on the spruce budworm’s population dynamics.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document