Understanding how variations in genetic sequences are conveyed into structural and biochemical properties is of increasing interest in the field of molecular evolution. In order to gain insight into this process, we studied the ecdysone receptor (EcR), a transcription factor that controls moulting and metamorphosis in arthropods. Using an in silico homology model, we identified a region in the lepidopteran EcR that has no direct interaction with the natural hormone but is under strong evolutionary constraint. This region causes a small indentation in the three-dimensional structure of the protein which facilitates the binding of tebufenozide. Non-Mecopterida are considered much older, evolutionarily, than Lepidoptera and they do not have this extended cavity. This location shows differences in evolutionary constraint between Lepidoptera and other insects, where a much lower constraint is observed compared with the Lepidoptera. It is possible that the higher flexibility seen in the EcR of Lepidoptera is an entirely new trait and the higher constraint could then be an indication that this region does have another important function. Finally, we suggest that Try123, which is evolutionarily constrained and is up to now exclusively present in Lepidoptera EcRs, could play a critical role in discriminating between steroidal and non-steroidal ligands.
© 2012 Royal Entomological Society.