Hsp70 genes of the Megaphragma amalphitanum (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) parasitic wasp

• Published in: Molecular biology (New York) Vol. 51; no. 4; pp. 543 - 548
• Main Authors: Chuvakova, L. N., Sharko, F. S., Nedoluzhko, A. V., Polilov, A. A., Prokhorchuk, E. B., Skryabin, K. G., Evgen’ev, M. B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Moscow Pleiades Publishing 01-07-2017; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Biochemistry; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Fruit flies; Gene conversion; Genomes; Heat shock; Heat shock proteins; Hsp70 protein; Human Genetics; Insects; Introns; Invertebrates; Life Sciences; Miniaturization; Molecular Cell Biology; Vertebrates; miniaturization; ); heat shock genes; evolution; parasitic wasp; sequencing
• ISSN: 0026-8933; 1608-3245
• DOI: 10.1134/S0026893317040094

Miniaturization is an evolutionary process that is widely represented in both invertebrates and vertebrates. Miniaturization frequently affects not only the size of the organism and its constituent cells, but also changes the genome structure and functioning. The structure of the main heat shock genes (
hsp70
and
hsp83
) was studied in one of the smallest insects, the
Megaphragma amalphitanum
(Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) parasitic wasp, which is comparable in size with unicellular organisms. An analysis of the sequenced genome has detected six genes that relate to the
hsp70
family, some of which are apparently induced upon heat shock. Both induced and constitutively expressed
hsp70
genes contain a large number of introns, which is not typical for the genes of this family. Moreover, none of the found genes form clusters, and they are all very heterogeneous (individual copies are only 75–85% identical), which indicates the absence of gene conversion, which provides the identity of genes of this family in
Drosophila
and other organisms. Two
hsp83
genes, one of which contains an intron, have also been found in the
M. amalphitanum
genome.