Phylogenetic and sequence analyses of insect transferrins suggest that onlytransferrin 1has a role in iron homeostasis

Iron is essential to life, but surprisingly little is known about how iron is managed in nonvertebrate animals. In mammals, the well-characterizedtransferrinsbind iron and are involved in iron transport or immunity, whereas other members of thetransferrinfamily do not have a role in iron homeostasis. In insects, the functions oftransferrinsare still poorly understood. The goals of this project were to identify thetransferringenes in a diverse set of insect species, resolve the evolutionary relationships among these genes, and predict which of thetransferrinsare likely to have a role in iron homeostasis. Our phylogenetic analysis oftransferrinsfrom 16 orders of insects and two orders of noninsect hexapods demonstrated that there are four orthologous groups of insecttransferrins. Our analysis suggests thattransferrin 2arose prior to the origin of insects, andtransferrins 1,3, and4arose early in insect evolution. Primary sequence analysis of each of the insecttransferrinswas used to predict signal peptides, carboxyl-terminal transmembrane regions, GPI-anchors, and iron binding. Based on this analysis, we suggest thattransferrins 2,3, and4are unlikely to play a major role in iron homeostasis. In contrast, thetransferrin 1orthologs are predicted to be secreted, soluble, iron-binding proteins. We conclude thattransferrin 1orthologs are the most likely to play an important role in iron homeostasis. Interestingly, it appears that the louse, aphid, and thrips lineages have lost thetransferrin 1gene and, thus, have evolved to manage iron withouttransferrins.

Automated summary

The study identified four orthologous groups of insect transferrins, with transferrin 1 most likely to play an important role in iron homeostasis, while transferrins 2, 3, and 4 are unlikely to. Lineages of lice, aphids, and thrips seem to have lost the transferrin 1 gene and evolved new mechanisms for iron management.