Emtithal Mohamed Ali

Citation:

Developmental Expression of Mitochondrial Gene Cytochrome b in Culex pipiens (L.) (Diptera: Culicidae) , M, Emtithal , Egyptian Journal of Biological Pest Control, Volume 23, p. 95-100, (2013)

Abstract:

Cytochrome b, coded by mitochondrial DNA, is one of the cytochromes involved in electron transport in the respiratory
chain of mitochondria. A 257 bp fragment of Cytochrome b gene (Cytb) was generated by reverse transcriptionpolymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) products and sequenced directly. Sequence analysis of PCR product of
Cytb shared a similarity in sequence compared to Culex Cytb found in GenBank. To reveal whether cytochrome b of the
mosquito, Culex pipiens (L.) (Diptera: Culicidae) (CxpCytb) was developmentally regulated; the real-time quantitative
polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), was used to examine Cytb gene expression levels in different developmental stages
of Cx. pipiens. The qPCR showed that CxpCytb was expressed in each developmental stage, with high expression at
eggs, the RNA relative expression level of CxpCytb decreased dramatically in 1st and 2nd instar larvae and increased
again in 4th instar larvae and pupae of mosquitoes, than the lowest point in adult males. Expression of CxpCytb in
teneral adults (2-days-old female) of Cx. pipiens was higher than that found in male adults of the same age. These
results suggest that CxpCytb gene plays an important role in the development of Cx. pipiens and may provide critical
information needed for designing novel control strategies for medically important disease vectors and identifying new
pathways to target for the development of new molecular pesticides