Characterization of the transcript for a depressant insect selective neurotoxin gene with an isolated cDNA clone from the scorpion Buthotus judaicus

FEBS Letters

Gurevitz, Michael¹  Zlotkin, Eliahu²  Zilberberg, Noam¹ 

[1] Department of Botany, Tel-Aviv University, Ramat-Aviv 69978, Tel-Aviv, Israel;Department of Zoology, Life Sciences Institute, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904, Israel

关键词: Scorpion neurotoxin;    cDNA;    Polymerase chain reaction;    Organ-specific transcription;    BjIT2;    Buthotus judaicus insect toxin II;    bp;    base pairs;    kb;    kilobase pairs;    kDa;    kilodalton;    PCR;    polymerase chain reaction;    DEPC;    diethylpyrocarbonate;    dit;    ‘depressant insect toxin’ gene;   

DOI  :  10.1016/0014-5793(90)81161-G

学科分类：生物化学/生物物理

来源: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

【 摘 要 】

The poly(A)⁺ mRNA isolated from the venomous terminal segments of the scorpion Buthotus judaicus was reversed transcribed into cDNA. PCR amplification of the cDNA in presence of oligonucleotide primers prepared on basis of the known amino acid sequence of the depressant insect toxin II yielded a 125 bp long product. This fragment was cloned and its sequence determined. The deduced amino acid sequence has revealed a complete homology with the amino acid sequence of the toxin. This clone was used to probe a Northern blot resolving the poly(A)⁺ and poly(A)⁻ fractions derived from the scorpion. An organ specific 360 nucleotide transcript which might be the processed product of a 4̃.0 kb precursor was elucidated. This cDNA clone may pave the way for a molecular genetic approach to study the structure-function relationship of scorpion selective insect toxins.

【 授权许可】

Unknown