Abstract
Acetylcholinesterase (AChE, EC 3.1.1.7), a serine hydrolase, catalyzes the breakdown of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine into acetate and choline. This involves the formation of a substrate enzyme complex, followed by acetylation of the hydroxyl group of the amino acid serine, present within the esteratic site, and finally deacetylation. AChE is the target site for carbamate and organophosphate (OP) insecticides. These compounds react in an analogous way to acetylcholine, forming a complex, then respectively carbamylating or phosphorylating the enzyme. The dephosphorylating and decarbamylating steps are however very slow thus inhibiting the enzyme. (O’Brian 1976).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Berge, J.B. and Fournier, D. 1988. Advances in molecular genetics of acetylcholinesterase insensitivity in insecticide resistant insects. Proc. XVIII Int. Cong. Entomol. Vancouver, B.C. Canada, p 461.
Bingham, P.M., Lewis, R. and Rubin, G.M. 1981. Cloning of DNA sequences from the white locus of Drosophila melanogaster by a novel and general method. Cell 25: 693–704.
Bonning, B.C. 1989. “Acetylcholinesterase and insecticide resistance in mosquitoes.” Ph.D. Thesis, University of London.
Corpet, F. 1988. Multiple sequence alignment with hierarchical clustering. Nuc. Acids Res. 16: 10881–10890.
Fournier, D. and Berge, J.B. 1990. Resistance to insecticide: Detection of a mutation in the acetylcholinesterase gene from Drosophila melanogaster. pp in: “Molecular Insect Science.” Hagedorn, H.H., Hildebrand, J.G., Kidwell, M.G. and Law, J.H., eds. Pergamon Press.
Fournier, D., Bride, J.M., Karch, F., Berge, J.B. 1988b. Acetylcholinesterase from Drosophila melanogaster: identification of two subunits encoded by the same gene. FEBS Lett. 238: 333–337.
Fournier, D., Karch, F., Bride, J.M., Hall, L.M.C., Berge, J.B. and Spierer P. 1989. The Drosophila melanogaster acetylcholinesterase gene: structure, evolution and mutations. J.Mol. Biol. 210: 15–22.
ffrench-Constant, R.H. and Bonning, B.C. 1989. Rapid microtitre plate test distinguishes insecticide resistant acetylcholinesterase genotypes in the mosquitoes Anopheles albimanus, An. nigerrimus and Culex pipiens. Med. Vet. Entomol. 3: 9–16.
Gnagey, A.L., Forte, M. and Rosenberry, T.L. 1987. Isolation and characterisation of acetylcholinesterase from Drosophila. J.Biol.Chem. 262: 13290–13298.
Hall, L.M.C. and Spierer, P. 1986. The Ace locus of Drosophila melanogaster: structural gene for acetylcholinesterase with an unusual 5′ leader. EMBO Journal. 5: 2949–2954.
Hunt, R.H. 1987. Location of genes on chromosome arms in the Anopheles gambiae group of species and their correlation to linkage data for anopheline mosquitoes. Med.Vet. Entomol. 1: 81p–88.
Kaiser, K. and Murray, N. 1985. The use of phage lambda replacement vectors in the construction of representative genomic DNA libraries. pp. 1–47 in: “DNA Cloning.” Vol I. Glover, D.M. ed. IRL Press, Oxford.
Kaiser, P.E., Seawright, J.A. and Joslyn, D.J. 1979. Cytology of a genetic sexing system in Anopheles albimanus Wiedmann. Can. J. Genet. Cytol. 21: 201–211.
Kieffer, B., Goeldner, M., Hirth, C., Aebersold, R. and Chang, J.Y. 1986. Sequence determination of a peptide fragment from electric eel acetylcholinesterase involved in the binding of quaternary ammonium. FEBS Lett. 202: 91–96.
Lockridge, O., Bartels, C.F., Vaughan, T.A., Wong, C.K., Norton, S.E. and Johnson, L.L. 1987. Complete amino acid sequence of human serum Cholinesterase. J.Biol.Chem. 262: 549–557.
Malcolm, C.A. and Mali, P. 1986. Genetic sexing of Anopheles stephensi with the larval morphological mutant Bl. Genetica 70: 37–42.
Maniatis, T., Fritsch, E.F., Sambrook, J. 1982. “Molecular Cloning. A Laboratory Manual.” Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York.
Massoulie, J. and Bon, S. 1982. The molecular forms of Cholinesterase and acetyl — Cholinesterase in vertebrates. Annu. Rev. Neurosci. 5: 57–106.
Morton, R.A. and Singh, R.S. 1982. The association between malathion resistance and acetylcholinesterase in Drosophila melanogaster. Biochem. Genet. 20: 179–198.
O’Brian, R.D. 1976. Acetylcholinesterase and its inhibition, pp. 271–296 in: “Insecticide biochemistry and physiology” Wilkinson, CF., ed., Heyden Press.
Oppenoorth, F.J. 1985. Biochemistry and genetics of insecticide resistance, pp. 735–745 in: “Comprehensive Insect Physiology, Biochemistry and Pharmacology.” vol 12. G.A. Kerkut and L.I. Gilbert, eds. Pergamon Press, Oxford.
Pardue, M.L. 1986. In situ hybridisation to DNA of chromosomes and nuclei. pp. 111–137 in: “Drosophila a Practical Approach.” Roberts, D.B. ed. IRL Press Oxford.
Prody, C.A., Zevin-Sonkin, D., Gnatt, A., Goldberg, O. and Soreq, H. 1987. Isolation and characterisation of full length cDNA clones coding for Cholinesterase from fetal human tissues. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84: 3555–3559.
Redfern, C.F. 1981. Homologous banding patterns in the polytene chromosomes from larval salivary glands and ovarian nurse cells of Anopheles stephensi. Chromosoma (Berl.) 83: 221–240.
Schumacher, M., Camp, S., Maulet, Y., Newton, M., Macphee-Quigley, K., Taylor, S.S., Friedmann, T. and Taylor, P. 1986. Primary structure of Torpedo californica acetylcholinesterase deduced from its cDNA sequence. Nature 319: 407–409.
Sharma, G.P., Parshad, R., Narang, S.L. and Kitzmiller, J.B. 1969. The salivary chromosomes of Anopheles stephensi. J. Med. Ent. 6: 68–71.
Sikorav, J.L., Krejci, E. and Massoulie, J. 1987. cDNA sequences of Torpedo marmorata acetylcholinesterase: primary structure of the precursor of a catalytic subunit; existance of multiple 5′-untranslated regions. EMBO Journal 6: 1865–1873.
Sikorav, J.L., Duval, N., Anselmet, A., Bon, S., Krejci, E., Legay, C., Osterlund, M., Reimund, B. and Massoulie, J. 1988. Complex alternative splicing of acetylcholinesterase transcripts in Torpedo electric organ; primary structure of the precursor of the glycolipid-anchored dimeric form. EMBO Journal 7: 2983–2993.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1990 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Malcolm, C.A., Hall, L.M.C. (1990). Cloning and Characterisation of a Mosquito Acetylcholinesterase Gene. In: Hagedorn, H.H., Hildebrand, J.G., Kidwell, M.G., Law, J.H. (eds) Molecular Insect Science. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-3668-4_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-3668-4_7
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-3670-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-3668-4
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive