Bc. Donly et al., MOLECULAR-CLONING OF THE GENE FOR THE ALLATOSTATIN FAMILY OF NEUROPEPTIDES FROM THE COCKROACH DIPLOPTERA-PUNCTATA, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United Statesof America, 90(19), 1993, pp. 8807-8811
Allatostatins (ASTs) are insect neuropeptides that inhibit juvenile ho
rmone biosynthesis by the corpora allata. We have isolated a cDNA from
the cockroach Diploptera punctata that encodes a 41.5-kDa precursor p
olypeptide containing the AST family of peptides. Translation of the c
DNA revealed a 370-amino acid pre-pro-peptide consisting of 13 AST-typ
e peptides and appropriate processing sites for endoproteolytic cleava
ge and amidation. The 13 potential AST sequences are characterized by
the C-terminal AST core-structure Phe-Gly-Leu-NH2, with only one excep
tion. Separating the clustered ASTs in the precursor, three acidic spa
cer regions are found. Contained within the largest of these are two p
otentially related peptides that may also be processed. Southern blot
analysis revealed the presence of a single copy of the AST gene per ha
ploid genome, as well as the probability that the gene may be present
in at least two allelic forms. In situ hybridization indicated the AST
-encoding gene is expressed in neurosecretory cells of D. punctata bra
in.