热激蛋白（HSPs）在生物体对环境适应性上起到重要的作用。农业虫鼠害综合治理研究国家重点实验室康乐研究组探讨了热激蛋白对斑潜蝇（Liriomyza  sativae  )  冷耐受力和生长发育方面的作用机理。

科研人员克隆了3种小分子HSP（Hsp19.5、Hsp20.8和Hsp21.7）和2种HSP60（TCP1α，TCP1ζ），定量PCR分析表明，3种小分子HSP均能被低温所诱导表达，而且Hsp20.8对低温更加敏感，这意味着不同的小分子HSP可能响应不同强度的低温胁迫。6种Hsp基因（Hsp19.5、Hsp20.8、Hsp21.7、TCP1α、TCP1ζ和Hsp90、）的相对表达量在不同生长发育阶段差异显著。总的表达趋势是：小分子Hsp（Hsp19.5、Hsp20.8、Hsp21.7）在蛹期表达量最高，而大分子Hsp（TCP1α、TCP1ζ、Hsp90）的表达量则随着生长发育而递增。这意味着除响应温度胁迫外，热激蛋白基因可能还在昆虫的生长发育中起着一定的作用。这一研究结果进一步增加了人们对热激蛋白基因功能的了解，并为研究昆虫的生长发育和变态提供了新的思路。

相关研究发表在爱思唯尔期刊《昆虫生理学杂志》（Journal of Insect Physiology）杂志上。

推荐原始出处：

Journal of Insect Physiology Volume 55, Issue 3, March 2009

Cloning and expression of five heat shock protein genes in relation to cold hardening and development in the leafminer, Liriomyza sativa

Li-Hua Huanga, Chen-Zhu Wanga and Le Kang, a,

aState Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, B5 Datun Road, ChaoYang District, Beijing 100101, China

The vegetable leafminer, Liriomyza sativae has spread worldwide, causing serious loss of agricultural productivity. Heat shock proteins (HSPs) play important roles in the environmental adaptation of various organisms, and to explore the functions of HSPs in relation to cold tolerance and development in L. sativae, three full-length cDNAs of small heat shock protein genes (ls-hsp19.5, ls-hsp20.8 and ls-hsp21.7) and two partial cDNAs of tcp1 (the hsp60 homolog, ls-tcp1α and ls-tcp1ζ) were cloned, and their transcriptional expression during cold hardening and development was examined by real time quantitative PCR. The open reading frames (ORFs) of ls-hsp19.5, ls-hsp20.8 and ls-hsp21.7 are 516, 543 and 573 bp in length, encoding proteins with molecular weights (M.W.) of 19.5, 20.8 and 21.7 kDa, respectively. The 956 and 323 bp partial cDNAs were respectively sequenced from ls-tcp1α and ls-tcp1ζ. The expression profiles during cold hardening revealed that ls-tcp1s did not respond to cold stress. However, the three small hsps were significantly induced by cold, and ls-hsp20.8 was more cold-sensitive than the others. These results suggest that different shsp members may be responsible for cold stresses of different intensity. The expression of hsps during developmental processes revealed that the mRNA levels of small hsps reached a peak in the pupal stage, whereas the levels of large hsps, including two ls-tcp1s, hsp60 and hsp90 increased gradually with the developmental process. These results suggest that, in addition to a heat shock response, these HSPs may be involved in the development of L. sativae.