0000000000316007
AUTHOR
E. Alcácer
The non-appearance of female-specific proteins in male Spilostethus pandurus)
1. 1. Female-specific peptides can be detected by SDS-PAGE in the haemolymph when the female insects are 48 hr old. 2. 2. The age of the male insect at the moment of treatment with juvenile hormone I (JH I), JH III or ecdysone has no influence on the induction of the female-specific bands in male S. pandurus. 3. 3. Male insects exposed to the hormones for periods of time longer than 24 hr were also unable to show female-specific bands in their haemolymph. Consecutive treatments with JH were unable to induce these peptides in the males.
Determination of organic and inorganic anions in insect haemolymph and midgut contents by ion chromatography
A simple and rapid ion-exchange chromatographic method with conductimetric detection for the determination of carboxylic acids (succinic, malic and citric) and inorganic anions (chloride, phosphate and sulphate) in haemolymph and midgut content of Lepidoptera larvae is provided. The mobile phase is 0.975 mM phthalic acid at pH 4.1. The procedure of sample extractions was simple. Comparison of the results with whose reported in the bibliography showed that the values were similar. The ion-exchange chromatographic–conductimetric detection method permits the analysis of various organic and inorganic anions in small biological samples.
Differences in the midgut proteolytic activity of twoHeliothis virescens strains, one susceptible and one resistant toBacillus thuringiensis toxins
The development of resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis toxic proteins is a growing concern because it could threaten both conventional and gene transfer use of this environmentally safe biological insecticide. The most common mechanism of resistance involves changes in binding affinity of toxin receptors in the insect midgut membrane. This has not been the case in Heliothis virescens. We have investigated changes in midgut proteolytic activity as a possibility to explain the resistance observed in this insect species. We have developed an improvement of known methods to demonstrate proteolytic activity in crude extracts. Using this method we have found differences in the proteolytic activi…
Characterization of vitellogenins in Spilostethus pandurus (Hemiptera): Immunoelectrophoretic studies and short-term labelling experiments
Abstract The haemolymph of Spilostethus pandurus contains three female-specific proteins (I, II and III) as revealed by SDS-PAGE. Antibodies prepared against them recognize three fractions (4, 5 and 6) in ovarian extracts which have similar molecular weights suggesting that I, II and III are vitellogenins. Upon injection of a 14C amino acid mixture into vitellogenic females, labelled proteins first appear in the fat body, then in the haemolymph and next in the ovarian follicles.
Resistance toBacillus thuringiensis Cry1Ac toxin in three strains ofHeliothis virescens: Proteolytic and SEM study of the larval midgut
In a previous study, we demonstrated that resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis toxins in Heliothis virescens might be related to differences in the composition of the proteolytic extracts from insect midgut. There, we found specific proteolytic bands present in the gut extracts of the resistant strain and absent from the susceptible one. Here we report related facts using a new resistant strain (KCB) and a cross between the two strains used in our previous study. As would be expected, no quantitative differences in total proteolytic activity were found between the strains, although qualitative differences related to the presence or absence of specific proteolytic activity bands using SDS-PA…
Effect of starvation on haemolymph vitellogenins and ovary uptake in Spilostethus pandurus
Abstract 1. 1. Starvation reduces haemolymph vitellogenins and their incorporation by developing oocytes in S. pandurus adult females. 2. 2. Access to food restores unspecifically the protein levels in both haemolymph and ovaries. 3. 3. Topical treatments with JH promote de novo specific synthesis of vitellogenins and incorporation by the ovaries. 4. 4. These results point to a strong role of the JH as the regulatory factor of both reproductive phenomena in S. pandurus .