Enzymology and molecular physiology in Arachnida

• Grant number: 15/23745-7
• Support type: Regular Research Grants
• Duration: March 01, 2016 - April 30, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry - Enzymology
• Principal Investigator: Adriana Rios Lopes
• Grantee: Adriana Rios Lopes
• Home Institution: Instituto Butantan. Secretaria da Saúde (São Paulo - Estado). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Assoc. researchers: Felipe Jun Fuzita ; Jose Salvatore Leister Patane

Abstract

Results obtained by enzyme directed evolution does not supress the need of exploration of new organisms as sources of enzymes and proteins with biotechnology applications. In this context, the phylum Artrhopoda has an amazing potencial to biomolecules prospection because it is the most diverse taxonomic group, including Arachnida. Arachnids are a group mainly studied due to spider and scorpion venoms and tick saliva. However, many other physiological aspects have been neglected. Digestion is an example of little explored system in spiders and scorpions. The combined use of biochemical techniques, transcriptome and proteome analysis allowed the development of the Arachnida digestion studies in my research group (FAPESP 2005/02486-1; 2006/03474-0; 2007/01706-3; 2014/15732-0 and 2015/11354-3) with two main goals: the identification of proteins and enzymes with biotechnological potential and the comprehension of digestion in Arachnida. From these data, it was possible to propose the first molecular model of the digestive process in spiders and scorpions and to identify the richness of this animals regarding enzymes with potential biotechnological use, deserving a more accurate investigation. Carrying forward with those well succeeded studies, we propose in this new project the characterization of some molecules with biotechnological potential identified by the high throughput techniques in the arachnida species studied: chitinase and hexosaminidase, fucosidases, fucosyltransferases and astacins. Besides that, proteins without catalytic activity as peptidase inhibitors and peritrophins will also be explored. Transcriptome analysis in feeding and fasting conditions suggested that many molecules are differentialy expressed. These data added to tissue specific expression by qPCR analysis will allow a deeper comprehension of the digestive process in Arachnida. In silico structural and phylogenetic analysis will also be done in order to understand the evolution of enzyme specificity and digestion in Arthropoda. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

PERRELLA, NATALIA N.; WITHERS, STEPHEN G.; LOPES, ADRIANA R. Identity and role of the non-conserved acid/base catalytic residue in the GH29 fucosidase from the spider Nephilingis cruentata. GLYCOBIOLOGY, v. 28, n. 12, p. 925-932, DEC 2018. Web of Science Citations: 1.