Characterization of the cDNA encoding the 90 kDa heat-shock protein in the Lepidoptera Bombyx mori and Spodoptera frugiperda

This report presents the first hsp90 complete cDNA sequences from two Lepidoptera. The Bombyx mori full sequence was reconstituted from 15 partial cDNA clones belonging to expressed sequence tag libraries obtained from different tissues or cultured cells, thus showing the ubiquitous expression of the hsp90 gene. The Spodoptera frugiperda cDNA was isolated as a full-length clone from a cDNA library established from the Sf9 cell line. Both cDNAs are highly homologous and display the classical amino acid (aa) stretches representing the HSP90 signature. They potentially encode a 716 aa (B. mori) and a 717 aa (S. frugiperda) protein, with a calculated molecular mass of 83 kDa similar to the Drosophila homologous protein. We show that, unlike the vertebrates, hsp90 is a unique gene in both S. frupiperda and B. mori genomes. Sequencing of the corresponding genomic region shows that, contrary to the dipteran homologous gene, the lepidopteran hsp90 gene does not display any intron. Phylogenetic analysis based on the two lepidopteran and 23 other HSP90 aa sequences displays a high consistency with known phylogeny at both high and low taxonomic levels. Transcriptional analysis performed in S. frugiperda shows that the induction of the hsp90 gene only occurs 14 degrees C above physiological growth conditions (42 degrees C).