NUCLEOTIDE-SEQUENCE AND STRUCTURE OF THE ARYLPHORIN GENE FROM GALLERIA-MELLONELLA

The complete nucleotide sequence and the structure of the arylphorin gene of Galleria mellonella have been determined. This gene contains four introns, at positions exactly corresponding to the four introns in other reported lepidopteran storage protein genes. The. gene encodes a preprotein of 702 amino acids, including a signal peptide of 16 amino acids and 131 aromatic residues in the mature protein. The deduced amino acid sequence has been confirmed by determination of the 26 N-terminal residues of purified Lhp76. Thus, Lhp76 is a typical 'member of the arylphorin family of lepidopteran storage proteins and is here renamed as the Galleria arylphorin. The deduced arylphorin protein sequence includes two potential N-glycosylation sites, in keeping with previous data that Lhp76 is an N-glycosylated protein. Although Galleria arylphorin gene expression is repressed by ecdysone in vivo and in vitro, no exact matches were found between 5' flanking DNA sequences and known Drosophila ecdysone response elements.