Molecular Description of Proclotting Enzyme: A Power Tool for Insect Biological Control of Aedes aegypti L.

Proclotting enzymes (PCE) are a serine protease-containing CLIP domain and play roles in development of embryonic and innate immune response. Little is known about PCE in mosquitoes, but only three melanization regulatory modules that involve proteases with the CLIP domain have been reported. We cloned the PCE gene and reported the nucleotide sequence encoding a proclotting enzyme in Aedes aegypti L. We did in-silico protein translation, alignment with proclotting proteinase sequences of the other species of different taxonomic orders, and phylogenetic analysis where PCE in Ae. aegypti fit the hypotheses of positive or adaptive evolution. The fundamental information could be applied in strategies for biological control of medically important insects.