Characterization of heat shock protein 90 gene in native entomopathogenic nematodes from Southern Italy

Abstract: Heat shock protein 90 (hsp90) family is an evolutionarily conserved, abundant cytosolic protein that has been shown to be involved in chaperone function and cell cycle control. It also plays an essential role in response to stress conditions such as heat or cold shock and presence of heavy metals. The partial hsp90 genes of Steinernema apuliae, S. ichnusae and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora were amplified by using degenerate primers and sequenced. Expression analysis of hsp90 gene will be determined at different temperatures by qRT-PCR.