The non-venom insect phospholipases A2

Phospholipases A2 (PLA2s) are responsible for releasing the fatty acid moiety from the sn-2 position of phospholipids. These enzymes are virtually ubiquitous proteins known from all major biological taxa. Various PLA2s act in a wide array of biological processes, including digestion of dietary lipids, cellular homeostasis, intra- and intercellular signaling, host defense and at least a few ecological interactions. PLA2 activities have been recorded in a small number of insect species, which can be taken to represent the broad group, Insecta. Within insects, PLA2s act in functions expected from the background on these enzymes. So far, we know PLA2s act in lipid digestion, cellular host defense signaling, reproduction and in organismal-level metabolism. Additional PLA2 actions are certain to emerge. This is the first article devoted to assembling the known information on insect PLA2s. I review the scant information available on the biological actions of PLA2s in insects, relate new findings on insect pathogens that disrupt insect immune functions by inhibiting PLA2s and mention the few reports of sequence information on insect PLA2s. Finally, I offer a brief prospectus on future research into insect PLA2s. There are two overarching points in this paper. One, there remains a great deal to learn about insect PLA2s and two, some of the findings on insect PLA2s will have meaningful practical significance.