Exocyst Complex Component 8 (EXOC8)

The exocyst is composed of eight subunits that are denoted EXOC1 to EXOC8. The homologous relationship is evident and is supported by alignments that cover the entire protein length. However, among the insects, the mutual sequence conservation for EXOC8 is rather low, because the honeybee and beetle homologs for EXOC8 are further diverged; hence, an apparent homology could not be assigned. Because the function of the exocyst relies on coordination of its subunits, EXOC8 would be missed during the task of genome annotation. A search for sequence similarity in the honeybee and beetle genomes identified a supported mRNA for EXOC8 in honeybee and an apparently unprocessed sequence in the beetle genome.