关键词: 拟黑多刺蚁, pvERR, 分子克隆, 生物信息学分析, 蛋白质结构预测

Abstract: Estrogen related receptor （ERR） can bind to the member of steroid receptor co-activator family and activate transcription activity of the target genes. ERRs have been found to be present in many animal species and play important roles in regulation of many physiological processes. A full-length cDNA of the ERR gene, named pvERR （GenBank accession no. EF474463）, was cloned from Polyrhachis vicina Roger by using RT-PCR and RACE methods. The nucleotide sequence and deduced amino acid sequences of pvERR were analyzed and characterized by bioinformatic methods. The results showed that the full-length cDNA of pvERR gene is 1 918 bp, containing an open reading frame of 1 305 bp, 5′-UTR of 245 bp and 3′-UTR of 368 bp. The cDNA encoded a protein with 434 amino acids. The ligand-binding domain （LBD） of pvERRs consists of two β-sheets and eleven α-helixs （H1, H3-H12, lack of H2） and the LBD structure is similar to that of mammalian ERRγ, whose crystal-structure is known. The homology analysis suggests that the pvERR and the amERR proteins share 89.9% identities in their amino acid sequences, and the homology between them is the highest in all known insect ERRs; phylogenetic relationgship between pvERR and human ERRs is closer than that between Drosophila dERR and human ERRs. This study may provide valuable information for further research on pvERR.

Key words: Polyrhachis vicina, pvERR, molecular cloning, bioinformatic analysis, protein structure prediction