Immunity-Related Genes and Gene Families in <i>Anopheles gambiae</i>

George K. Christophides(European Molecular Biology Laboratory), Evgeny M. Zdobnov(European Molecular Biology Laboratory), Carolina Barillas‐Mury(Colorado State University), Ewan Birney(European Bioinformatics Institute), Stéphanie Blandin(European Molecular Biology Laboratory), Claudia Blass(European Molecular Biology Laboratory), Paul T. Brey(Institut Pasteur), Frank H. Collins(University of Notre Dame), Alberto Danielli(European Molecular Biology Laboratory), George Dimopoulos(Imperial College London), Charles Hétru(Institut de Biologie Moléculaire des Plantes), Ngô Thị Hoa(Yale University), Jules A. Hoffmann(Institut de Biologie Moléculaire des Plantes), Stefan M. Kanzok(Yale University), Ivica Letunić(European Molecular Biology Laboratory), Elena A. Levashina(European Molecular Biology Laboratory), Thanasis G. Loukeris(Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology), Gareth Lycett(European Molecular Biology Laboratory), Stephan Meister(European Molecular Biology Laboratory), Kristin Michel(European Molecular Biology Laboratory), Luís F. Moita(European Molecular Biology Laboratory), Hans‐Michael Müller(European Molecular Biology Laboratory), Mike A. Osta(European Molecular Biology Laboratory), Susan M. Paskewitz(University of Wisconsin System), Jean-Marc Reichhart(Institut de Biologie Moléculaire des Plantes), Andrey Rzhetsky(Columbia University Irving Medical Center), Laurent Troxler(Institut de Biologie Moléculaire des Plantes), Kenneth D. Vernick(New York University), Dina Vlachou(European Molecular Biology Laboratory), Jennifer Volz(European Molecular Biology Laboratory), Christian von Mering(European Molecular Biology Laboratory), Jiannong Xu(New York University), Liangbiao Zheng(Yale University), Peer Bork(European Molecular Biology Laboratory), Fotis C. Kafatos(European Molecular Biology Laboratory)
Science
October 3, 2002
10.1126/science.1077136
Cited by 966

Abstract

We have identified 242 Anopheles gambiae genes from 18 gene families implicated in innate immunity and have detected marked diversification relative to Drosophila melanogaster. Immune-related gene families involved in recognition, signal modulation, and effector systems show a marked deficit of orthologs and excessive gene expansions, possibly reflecting selection pressures from different pathogens encountered in these insects' very different life-styles. In contrast, the multifunctional Toll signal transduction pathway is substantially conserved, presumably because of counterselection for developmental stability. Representative expression profiles confirm that sequence diversification is accompanied by specific responses to different immune challenges. Alternative RNA splicing may also contribute to expansion of the immune repertoire.

Related Papers

No related papers found

Powered by citation graph analysis