American Research Journal of Biosciences

Ribosomal proteins S24 (RPS24) is one of the small subunit ribosomal proteins, and is likely involved with the initiation and elongation process during protein synthesis. In this study, a full-length of RPS24 cDNA was first cloned from the American cockroach, Periplaneta americana (L.) (Blattodea: Blattidae) by using rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) approaches. The full-length cDNA of the P. americana RPS24 (PaRPS24) was of 572 bp, containing a 5′ untranslated region (UTR) of 33 bp, a 3′ UTR of 137 bp with a poly (A) tail, and an open reading frame of 402 bp encoding a polypeptide of 133 amino acids with the predicted molecular weight of 15.32 kDa and estimated isoelectric point of 10.86 (NCBI accession number: KJ650197). BLAST analysis revealed that amino acids of PaRPS24 shared identity with Harpegnathos saltator 89%, Biphyllus lunatus 89%, Carabus granulatus 89%, Camponotus floridanus 88%, Tribolium castaneum 88%, Solenopsis invicta 88%, and Lygus lineolaris 86%, and so on. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis indicated that PaRPS24 could be detected in all the tested tissues, in which the relative expression levels were 1.01-, 6.19-, 4.99-, 2.62- and 1.24-fold higher in the testis, head, thorax, leg and gut than in the ovary, respectively. The results provided some important information, and may help to understand the evolution of ribosomes and to unravel the function of the proteins in insects.