cDNA and deduced amino acid sequences of apolipophorin-IIIs from Bombyx mori and Bombyx mandarina

The cDNA sequence for apolipophorin-III from two strains of Bombyx mori (N4 and P50) and the Japanese and Chinese strains of Bombyx mandarina were det ermined. Both the cDNA and deduced amino acid sequences of the four apolipo phorin-IIIs were highly similar (95-98%). The four Bombyx sequences also sh owed significant similarity to the sequence of apolipophorin-III from anoth er lepidopteran, Manduca sexta (83-84%), particularly in the five amphipath ic m-helices that are proposed to play a critical role in the binding of ap olipophorin-III to lipophorin. In the coding region, the nucleotide sequenc es for the Chinese strain of B. mandarina and the P50 strain of B. mori wer e identical, supporting the suggestion that P50 is the current strain most closely related to the original domesticated strain. The N4 strain of B. mo ri is more closely related to these two strains than is the Japanese strain of B. mandarina, suggesting that Japanese strain of B. mandarina separated from the Chinese strain of B. mandarina before domestication of B. mori. A rch. Insect Biochem. Physiol. 43:16-21, 2000. (C) 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.