Shared blueprint in aphid proteins helps AI predict their structures
Tiny insects called aphids inject hundreds of mysterious proteins into plants, hijacking the plants' own genomes to build galls: structures made of plant tissue but constructed to the insects' specifications to house and feed their offspring.
Scientists at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research have discovered that thousands of proteins produced by aphids, tiny insects that manipulate plants for their own purposes, share a common structural plan. These proteins, called BICYCLE proteins, are involved in creating galls on plants, structures that house and feed the aphids' offspring.
The researchers from Stowers Institute and the University of Pittsburgh used an AI system called AlphaFold2 to predict the 3D structures of these proteins, which had previously been difficult to study due to their rapid evolution. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, demonstrates a new method for using AlphaFold2 on rapidly evolving proteins.
The researchers found that the BICYCLE proteins all share a saposin-like fold, a structural motif seen elsewhere in biology. This shared blueprint suggests that the proteins are evolving on two fronts: targeting new molecular sites within the plant and evading the plant's immune system. The findings provide insight into the evolutionary arms race between aphids and their plant hosts and could help scientists study other rapidly evolving proteins involved in immunity, host-parasite interactions, and agriculture.
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