Intracellular localization and gene expression analysis provide new insights on LEA proteins’ diversity in anhydrobiotic midge

Anhydrobiosis, an adaptive ability to withstand complete desiccation, is in insects limited to a single species: the nonbiting midge Polypedilum vanderplanki (the sleeping chironomid). Evolution of anhydrobiosis in a single representative of a large genus is associated with drastic changes in genome structure, including the emergence of new multimember gene families directly involved in desiccation tolerance. Among them, Late Embryogenesis Abundant (LEA) proteins, which protect other proteins from aggregation caused by desiccation, are believed to originate via horizontal gene transfer from a bacterial donor. To obtain new insights on the biological background of the expanded 27-member LEA protein group in P. vanderplanki , we investigated the expression of corresponding genes in a P. vanderplanki -derived cell line, capable of anhydrobiosis, in a normal state and during induction of desiccation tolerance. We found that all LEA proteins genes identified in P. vanderplanki ’s genome except PvLea16 and PvLea17 are also expressed in Pv11 cells. Their expression was elevated in response to anhydrobiosis-inducing trehalose treatment. Expression patterns of PvLea genes were well preserved in Pv11 cells in comparison to P. vanderplanki ’s larvae both in the control group and during the anhydrobiosis cycle. We also investigated localization of LEA proteins in Pv11 cells and Sf9 cells and found a different level of conservation in intracellular localization of the protein expressed in mammalian and insect cells.