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In silico characterization and comparative genomic analysis of the Culex quinquefasciatus glutathione S-transferase (GST) supergene family

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Abstract

The glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) are phase II class of detoxification enzymes that are involved both directly and indirectly in insecticide resistance mechanisms. The Culex quinquefasciatus GST superfamily was analyzed by utilizing the public domain Culex genome sequence. In total, 35 cytosolic (seven classes) and 5 microsomal putatively active GSTs were retrieved, classified, and annotated. The study revealed the presence of three unclassified GSTs. Of 35 cytosolic GSTs, 65% contributed by insect specific Delta–Epsilon classes. Gene cluster analysis revealed that most of the genes of Delta, Epsilon, and Theta classes were organized into gene clusters. The gene organization analysis revealed the dominance of phase “0” introns in the Culex GST family. The studies on intron loss and gain events revealed that the Delta GSTs have experienced a higher number of loss and gains during their evolution. A positive correlation was observed between the phylogenetic relationship of members of the GST superfamily and their corresponding exon–intron organization. In addition, the genes within the gene clusters revealed the monophyletic phylogenetic relationship implying the importance of gene duplication events in the gene families' evolution. Finally, the comparative genomic analysis has shown a complex evolutionary scenario associated with the GST supergene family evolution in insects.

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Acknowledgements

BPNR was supported by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-SRF fellowship. We gratefully acknowledge the continuous support provided by the Director-in-Charge, National Institute of Malaria Research, New Delhi.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vector Control Division, National Institute of Malaria Research (ICMR), Sector 8, Dwarka, New Delhi, 110077, India

    B. P. Niranjan Reddy & K. Raghavendra

  2. School Of Studies in Biotechnology, Jiwaji University, Gwalior, MP, India

    B. P. Niranjan Reddy & G. B. K. S. Prasad

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  1. B. P. Niranjan Reddy
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  2. G. B. K. S. Prasad
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  3. K. Raghavendra
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Correspondence to K. Raghavendra.

Electronic supplementary materials

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Online Resource 1

Diagrammatic representation of relative position of AgGSTU4 with respect to other Epsilon-class members of Anopheles gambiae (PDF 58 kb)

Online Resource 2

Plotcon-based multiple sequence graphical representation (PDF 26 kb)

Online Resource 3

Diagrammatic representation of Culex GST gene clusters identified in the genome (PDF 113 kb)

Online Resource 4

Phylogenetic analysis of Culex GSTs using maximum likelihood approach using PAML v4.0 (PDF 20 kb)

Online Resource 5

Inferring phylogenetic relationship among the members of C. quinquefasciatus GST supergene family based on Block sequences (PDF 137 kb)

Online Resource 6

Culex GST supergene family intron–exon length and gene organizations (PDF 216 kb)

Online Resource 7

GST class wise distribution of intron phases in Culex GST superfamily (PDF 71 kb)

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Niranjan Reddy, B.P., Prasad, G.B.K.S. & Raghavendra, K. In silico characterization and comparative genomic analysis of the Culex quinquefasciatus glutathione S-transferase (GST) supergene family. Parasitol Res 109, 1165–1177 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-011-2364-x

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