Identification of an adaptor protein‐2 mu gene ( AccAP2m AccAP2m ) in Apis cerana cerana Apis cerana cerana and its role in oxidative stress responses

摘要

Abstract The adaptor protein‐2 (AP‐2) complex refers to a class of proteins that play an important role in cargo recognition and are involved in clathrin‐mediated endocytosis of cargo proteins from the plasma membrane in animal cells. However, there have been few studies of AP‐2 in insects. Here, we isolated an AP‐2 gene from Apis cerana cerana ( A. cerana cerana ) and explored the function of this gene, named AccAP2m . The obtained amino acid sequence of AccAP2m is highly conserved across species and contains conserved features of the AP‐2 family. Quantitative real‐time PCR analysis showed that AccAP2m mRNA levels were high in newly emerged workers, and the expression levels were higher in muscle than in other tissues. The expression of AccAP2m was altered in response to various environmental stress factors. Moreover, overexpression of recombinant AccAP2m protein enhanced the resistance of the bacteria to HgCl 2 , CdCl 2 , and cumyl hydroperoxide. In addition, after knockdown of AccAP2m in A. cerana cerana by RNA interference (RNAi), the transcription of some antioxidant genes was downregulated, and the activities of some antioxidant enzymes decreased. Taken together, these results indicate that AccAP2m may play an indispensable role in response to oxidative stresses.