Cotesia plutellae known as an endoparasitoid parasitizes larvae of the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella which is a major pest in cruciferous crops. For the successful parasitization, maternal and embryonic factors of C. plutellae such as polydnavirus, ovarian proteins, teratocytes and venom are required. In this study, we identified calreticulin (Cp-CRT) gene from transcriptome data of the venom gland in C. plutellae. cDNA of CRT was cloned from total RNA of the venom gland via PCR and encodes 403 amino acids harboring several structural motifs such as a signal peptide sequence, a repetitive sequence, a putative coiled-coil sequence encompassing, and endoplasmic reticulum-recognizing domain (-KDEL). Phylogenetic analysis showed that the Cp-CRT gene formed a unique cluster with other hymenopteran CRT genes, indicating that the Cp-CRT belongs to the CRT family. To examine the physiological function of Cp-CRT, recombinant Cp-CRT, fused with 6X-His at N-terminal was constructed and expressed in E. coli. Recombinant Cp-CRT was successfully expressed via Western blot analysis and suppressed significant nodule formation when co-injected with E. coli as immune response inducer. These results suggest that the Cp-CRT involves in suppression of cellular immune response in the host

• Wook Hyun Cha(Dapartment of Biology, KyungSung University)
• Yonggyun Kim(Department of Agricultural Biology, Andong National University)
• Dae-Weon Lee(Dapartment of Biology, KyungSung University)