UC Irvine

We report the first case of two Cu/Zn Sod genes (ccSod1 and ccSod2) that have been cloned and sequenced from an insect, the medfly, Ceratitis capitata. Biochemical evidence suggested the presence of two Sod genes in the medfly. The two genes are isolated using different molecular strategies: ccSod1 via cross-hybridization to a genomic library using a heterologous probe and ccSod2 from cDNA using a homologous probe generated by PCR. Sequence analysis shows that ccSod1 and ccSod2 are different genes. The inferred amino sequences show that all essential residues of the active site are strictly conserved, which suggests both genes encode functional Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD). Phylogenetic analysis by the maximum parsimony method with bootstrap resampling of previously known Cu/Zn SOD reveals two monophyletic groups, vertebrates and insects. The position of ccSOD2 in this phylogeny is undefined with respect to dipteran ccSOD1, vertebrate, plant, fungal, and extracellular Cu/Zn SOD, which suggests that the duplication detected in Ceratitis is ancient, perhaps as old as the origins of the arthropod phylum in the Cambrian more than 500 million years ago. In situ hybridization to polytene chromosomes places the genes on different chromosomes, which is consistent with an ancient gene duplication.