Identification and characterisation of functional aquaporin water channel (Anomala cuprea DRIP) in a coleopteran insect

Abstract

SUMMARYWater transport across the plasma membrane depends on the presence of the water channel aquaporin (AQP), which mediates the bulk movement of water through osmotic and pressure gradients. In terrestrial insects, which are solid and/or plant feeders, the entrance and exit of water is primarily executed along the alimentary tract, where the hindgut, particularly the rectum, is the major site of water conservation. A cDNA encoding the homologue of the water-specific Drosophila AQP [Drosophila integral protein ( Supplementary material available online at

Aquaporin water channel in the salivary glands of the Formosan subterranean termite Coptotermes formosanus is predominant in workers and absent in soldiers

“…Water-specific AQPs of the DRIP subfamily clade have been steadily characterized from the digestive and excretory tissues of a variety of insect species (Le Cahérec et al, 1996;Elvin et al, 1999;Pietrantonio et al, 2000;Kaufmann et al, 2005;Shakesby et al, 2009;Kataoka et al, 2009aKataoka et al, , 2009bMathew et al, 2011;Ishida et al, 2012;Staniscuaski et al, 2013). DRIPs share conserved antigenic epitopes at the loop D domain, even between phylogenetically distant insect species, which allows the use of B. mori AQP antisera raised against a synthetic peptide corresponding to the loop D sequence for further characterization of other insect AQPs at the cellular and protein levels (Ishida et al, 2012;Nagae et al, 2013). The loop D domain of the Coptotermes DRIP (CfAQP1; Kambara et al, 2009) possesses high similarity to that of the Bombyx DRIP.…”

“…2 in Azuma et al , ; AB178640 ). The epitope is well conserved with respect to those similar regions of the Coptotermes DRIP ( C 161 DERRTDVKGSAPLA 175 ; AB433197 ), the cupreous chafer, Anomala cuprea DRIP (Nagae et al , ; AB741517 ) and Drosophila melanogaster AQP as the original DRIP (Kaufmann et al , ; ABA81817 ).…”

“…2 in Azuma et al, 2012;AB178640). The epitope is well conserved with respect to those similar regions of the Coptotermes DRIP (C 161 DERRTDVKGSAPLA 175 ; AB433197), the cupreous chafer, Anomala cuprea DRIP (Nagae et al, 2013;AB741517) and Drosophila melanogaster AQP as the original DRIP (Kaufmann et al, 2005;ABA81817). C-terminal sequences, C + E 255 KELKRLDGGKLDD 268 , where the degree of conservation is considerably higher among the sequenced PRIPs across the class Insecta (cf.…”

“…The present study investigates the molecular aspects of water transport through AQPs in the Formosan subterranean termite Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae), the DRIP-type AQP of which has been previously cloned (Kambara et al, 2009). This C. formosanus DRIP (CfAQP1: Gen-Bank Accession number AB433197 or BAG72254.1) demonstrates high similarity to other characterized DRIPs, including those from lepidopteran, dipteran and coleopteran larvae (Kataoka et al, 2009a(Kataoka et al, , 2009bIshida et al, 2012;Nagae et al, 2013). Using antibodies specific to the DRIP from the silkworm Bombyx mori , the tissue specific distribution of the AQPs of both of these insect species is characterized.…”

“…DRIP is widely expressed in many insect epithelia. A more complete picture of the insect DRIP subfamily has been established more recently (Shakesby et al, 2009;Kataoka et al, 2009aKataoka et al, , 2009bMathew et al, 2011;Azuma et al, 2012;Ishida et al, 2012;Nagae et al, 2013;Staniscuaski et al, 2013), subsequent to the pioneering study of the filter chamber as a water-shunting complex in the homopteran insect Cicadella viridis (Le Cahérec et al, 1996). In liquid-feeding insects, AQPs are responsible for osmoregulation in diuresis and excretion after their intermittent or periodical feeding.…”