Fig. 2

Alignment of the deduced amino acid sequence of Caligus rogercresseyi AChE1a and AChE1b with 19 previously published acetylcholinesterases (AChE) from other arthropods and vertebrates. The ten important amino acids and several cysteines involved in disulphide bridges are indicated by arrows (also highlighted in bold in Torpedo californica and Caligus rogercresseyi sequences, in blue and red, respectively). The red box represents the canonical “FGESAG” motif, characteristic of the active site of cholinesterases. The blue box represents the typical sequence insertion/deletion domain that distinguishes AChE1 and 2. Abbrevations: An_ga, Anopheles gambiae; Ap_me, Apis mellifera; Bl_ge, Blattella germanica; Ca_el, Caenorhabditis elegans; Ca_ro, Caligus rogercresseyi; Dr_me, Drosophila melanogaster; Ho_sa, Homo sapiens; Le_sa, Lepeophtheirus salmonis; Mu_do, Musca domestica; Ne_ci, Nephotettix cincticeps; Rh_de, Rhipicephalus decoloratus; Te_ur, Tetranychus urticae; Ti_ja, Tigriopus japonicus; To_cal, Torpedo californica. For UniprotKB database entry names see Additional file 3