Endocrinology Abstracts

Regulation of JH levels in mosquitoes

F.G. Noriega 1,2 , G.C.Unnithan 3,2 , K.Edgar 1,2 , R. Feyereisen 3,2 , J. A.Veenstra 4 & M.A. Wells 1,2

1 Dept. of Biochemistry, Univ. of Arizona, BSW 440, Tucson, AZ 857, USA; 2 Center for Insect Science, Univ. of AZ, 3 Dept of Entomology, Univ. of AZ. 4 Lab. Neuroendocrinologie des Insectes, Univ. Bordeaux 1, Talence, France

In adult female mosquito JH signals that ecdysis of the adult is complete and reproductive processes should begin, inducing simultaneously changes in the expression of many genes in different tissues. We have shown that JH plays an essential role in the transcriptional activation of the early trypsin gene in the Aedes aegypti midgut. The early trypsin gene is a remarkable “molecular marker”, its expression is dramatically modified after blood feeding, and it is affected by both hormones and nutrients. We plan to use the expression of the early trypsin gene as a paradigm to investigate the nutritional regulation of JH levels. The ultimate goal of this project is to understand how changes in the nutritional status are assessed, and this information is transduced to coordinate post-feeding physiology. In this presentation we are focussing on the nutritional regulation of juvenile hormone levels. Our hypothesis is that the midgut can detect the nutritional status, and regulates the JH levels by affecting the activity of the corpora allata. This regulation could be mediated directly or indirectly by midgut peptides synthesized by the endocrine cells and released into the hemolymph. In summary, in order to define how JH levels are regulated after a blood meal; we are studying the nutritional control of JH levels, and the regulatory role of the midgut peptides.

Index terms: Aedes aegypti , Juvenile Hormone, allatoregulatory peptides

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