Publications
| Title | Abstract | Year(sorted descending) Filter | PMID Filter |
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| gene families of cuticular proteins analogous to peritrophins (cpaps) in tribolium castaneum have diverse functions. | the functional characterization of an entire class of 17 genes from the red flour beetle, tribolium castaneum, which encode two families of cuticular proteins analogous to peritrophins (cpaps) has been carried out. cpap genes in t. castaneum are expressed exclusively in cuticle-forming tissues and have been classified into two families, cpap1 and cpap3, based on whether the proteins contain either one (cpap1), or three copies (cpap3) of the chitin-binding domain, chtbd2, with its six characteris ... | 2012 | 23185457 |
| parallel duplication and partial subfunctionalization of β-catenin/armadillo during insect evolution. | β-catenin is a multifunctional scaffolding protein with roles in wnt signaling, cell adhesion, and centrosome separation. here, we report on independent duplications of the insect β-catenin ortholog armadillo (arm) in the red flour beetle tribolium castaneum and the pea aphid acyrthosiphon pisum. detailed sequence analysis shows that in both species, one paralog lost critical residues of the α-catenin binding domain, which is essential for cell adhesion, and accumulated a dramatically higher num ... | 2011 | 21890476 |
| large-scale rnai screen of g protein-coupled receptors involved in larval growth, molting and metamorphosis in the red flour beetle. | the g protein-coupled receptors (gpcrs) belong to the largest superfamily of integral cell membrane proteins and play crucial roles in physiological processes including behavior, development and reproduction. because of their broad and diverse roles in cellular signaling, gpcrs are the therapeutic targets for many prescription drugs. however, there is no commercial pesticide targeting insect gpcrs. in this study, we employed functional genomics methods and used the red flour beetle, tribolium ca ... | 2011 | 21806814 |
| conserved repressive function of krüppel homolog 1 on insect metamorphosis in hemimetabolous and holometabolous species. | insect metamorphosis is regulated by ecdysteroids, which induce molts, and juvenile hormone (jh), which inhibits metamorphic changes. the molecular action of ecdysteroids has been thoroughly studied, but that of jh is poorly understood, with data currently only being available for holometabolous species, like drosophila melanogaster and tribolium castaneum. we studied the function of krüppel homolog 1 (kr-h1) in blattella germanica, a hemimetabolous model. kr-h1 is a zn finger transcription fact ... | 2011 | 22355678 |
| early patterning and blastodermal fate map of the head in the milkweed bug oncopeltus fasciatus. | the process of head development in insects utilizes a set of widely conserved genes, but this process and its evolution are not well understood. recent data from tribolium castaneum have provided a baseline for an understanding of insect head development. however, work on a wider range of insect species, including members of the hemimetabolous orders, is needed in order to draw general conclusions about the evolution of head differentiation and regionalization. we have cloned and studied the exp ... | 2011 | 23016905 |
| phylogenetic and functional characterization of the hat transposon superfamily. | transposons are found in virtually all organisms and play fundamental roles in genome evolution. they can also acquire new functions in the host organism and some have been developed as incisive genetic tools for transformation and mutagenesis. the hat transposon superfamily contains members from the plant and animal kingdoms, some of which are active when introduced into new host organisms. we have identified two new active hat transposons, aebuster1, from the mosquito aedes aegypti and tcbuste ... | 2011 | 21368277 |
| performance of pre-commercial release formulations of spinosad against five stored-product insect species on four stored commodities. | two liquid and one dry pre-commercial release spinosad formulations were evaluated at the labeled rate of 1 ppm against five stored-grain insect species on wheat, short-grain rice, long-grain rice, and maize. except on maize, efficacy of spinosad was compared with a currently registered grain protectant, chlorpyrifos-methyl (3 ppm) plus deltamethrin (0.5 ppm). the 7- and 14-day mortalities of the lesser grain borer, rhyzopertha dominica, were 99.0-100.0% on spinosad and chlorpyrifos-methyl plus ... | 2011 | 22962550 |
| feeding deterrents against two grain storage insects from euphorbia fischeriana. | the screening of several chinese medicinal herbs for insecticidal principles showed that euphorbia fischeriana roots possessed significant feeding deterrent activity against two stored-product insects (tribolium castaneum and sitophilus zeamais). from ethanol extract, four feeding deterrents were isolated by bioassay-guided fractionation. the compounds were identified as jolkinolide b, 12-deoxyphorbol 13-(9z)-octadecenoate 20-acetate, 17-hydroxyjolkinolide a and b on the basis of their phytochem ... | 2011 | 21221063 |
| composition and toxic, repellent and feeding deterrent activity of essential oils against the stored-grain pests tribolium castaneum (coleoptera: tenebrionidae) and sitophilus oryzae (coleoptera: curculionidae). | the composition and bioactivity of essential oils from tagetes terniflora kunth, cymbopogon citratus stapf. and elyonurus muticus (spreng) kuntz were evaluated against stored-grain pests. | 2011 | 21365739 |
| cycads: an annotation database system to ease the development and update of biocyc databases. | in recent years, genomes from an increasing number of organisms have been sequenced, but their annotation remains a time-consuming process. the biocyc databases offer a framework for the integrated analysis of metabolic networks. the pathway tool software suite allows the automated construction of a database starting from an annotated genome, but it requires prior integration of all annotations into a specific summary file or into a genbank file. to allow the easy creation and update of a biocyc ... | 2011 | 21474551 |
| ethyl formate plus methyl isothiocyanate-a potential liquid fumigant for stored grains. | background: methyl bromide is being phased out for use on stored commodities, as it is listed as an ozone-depleting substance, and phosphine is the fumigant widely used on grains. however, phosphine resistance occurs worldwide, and phosphine fumigation requires a long exposure period and temperatures of > 15 °c. there is an urgent requirement for the development of a fumigant that kills insects quickly and for phosphine resistance management. this paper reports on a new fumigant formulation of 9 ... | 2011 | 21780282 |
| characterization of an allatotropin-like peptide receptor in the red flour beetle, tribolium castaneum. | following a reverse pharmacology approach, we identified an allatotropin-like peptide receptor in tribolium castaneum. allatotropins are multifunctional neuropeptides initially isolated from the tabacco hornworm, manduca sexta. they have been shown to be myoactive, to be cardio-acceleratory, to inhibit active ion transport, to stimulate juvenile hormone production and release and to be involved in the photic entrainment of the circadian clock. a tissue distribution analysis of the t.-ácastaneum ... | 2011 | 21742031 |
| The antifungal, cytotoxic, antitermite and insecticidal activities of Zizyphus jujube. | Plants are very useful, self-generating machines, producing a variety of useful bioactive products. Keeping in view this idea, the crude methanolic extract and various fractions of Zizyphus jujuba were screened for antifungal, cytotoxic, antitermite and insecticidal activities. Low activity was shown by the crude methanolic extract (12%), n-hexane (9%), chloroform (20%) and ethyl acetate (14%) fraction against Penicillium notatum. Low activity was shown by the n-hexane fraction against Aspergill ... | 2011 | 21959810 |
| molecular cloning and characterization of neutral ceramidase homologue from the red flour beetle, tribolium castaneum. | ceramidase plays an important role in regulating the metabolism of sphingolipids, such as ceramide, sphingosine (sph), and sphingosine-1-phosphate (s1p), by controlling the hydrolysis of ceramide. here we report the cloning and biochemical characterization of a neutral ceramidase from the red flour beetle tribolium castaneum which is an important storage pest. the tribolium castaneum neutral ceramidase (tncer) is a protein of 696 amino acids. it shares a high degree of similarity in protein sequ ... | 2011 | 21457750 |
| analysis of the workers head transcriptome of the asian subterranean termite, coptotermes gestroi. | the lower termite, coptotermes gestroi (isoptera: rhinotermitidae), is originally from southeast asia and has become a pest in brazil. the main goal of this study was to survey c. gestroi transcriptome composition. to accomplish this, we sequenced and analyzed 3003 expressed sequence tags (ests) isolated from libraries of worker heads. after assembly, 695 uniests were obtained from which 349 have similarity with known sequences. comparison with insect genomes demonstrated similarity, primarily w ... | 2011 | 21205397 |
| diversity in protein glycosylation among insect species. | a very common protein modification in multicellular organisms is protein glycosylation or the addition of carbohydrate structures to the peptide backbone. although the class of the insecta is the largest animal taxon on earth, almost all information concerning glycosylation in insects is derived from studies with only one species, namely the fruit fly drosophila melanogaster. | 2011 | 21373189 |
| synthesis of novel quinoxalinone derivatives by conventional and microwave methods and assessing their biological activity. | in this study, twenty-one arylaminoquinoxalinone derivatives were synthesized and their antibacterial activities against staphylococci aureus, pseudomonas aureus, escherichia coli, bacillus subtilis, salmonella typhi, and shigella pneumoniae were evaluated relative to known antibiotics; augmentin, ampicillin, and chloramphenicol. the insecticidal activities of the prepared compounds were also investigated against tribolium castaneum using permethrin as a standard insecticide. the derivatives wer ... | 2011 | 22076760 |
| Kinetic properties of alternatively spliced isoforms of laccase-2 from Tribolium castaneum and Anopheles gambiae. | Laccase-2 is a highly conserved multicopper oxidase that functions in insect cuticle pigmentation and tanning. In many species, alternative splicing gives rise to two laccase-2 isoforms. A comparison of laccase-2 sequences from three orders of insects revealed eleven positions at which there are conserved differences between the A and B isoforms. Homology modeling suggested that these eleven residues are not part of the substrate binding pocket. To determine whether the isoforms have different k ... | 2011 | 22198355 |
| genomic and proteomic studies on the effects of the insect growth regulator diflubenzuron in the model beetle species tribolium castaneum. | several benzoylphenyl urea-derived insecticides such as diflubenzuron (dfb, dimilin) are in wide use to control various insect pests. although this class of compounds is known to disrupt molting and to affect chitin content, their precise mode of action is still not understood. to gain a broader insight into the mechanism underlying the insecticidal effects of benzoylphenyl urea compounds, we conducted a comprehensive study with the model beetle species and stored product pest tribolium castaneu ... | 2011 | 22212827 |
| candidate gene screen in the red flour beetle tribolium reveals six3 as ancient regulator of anterior median head and central complex development. | several highly conserved genes play a role in anterior neural plate patterning of vertebrates and in head and brain patterning of insects. however, head involution in drosophila has impeded a systematic identification of genes required for insect head formation. therefore, we use the red flour beetle tribolium castaneum in order to comprehensively test the function of orthologs of vertebrate neural plate patterning genes for a function in insect head development. rnai analysis reveals that most ... | 2011 | 22216011 |
| Transient expression of a viral histone H4 inhibits expression of cellular and humoral immune-associated genes in Tribolium castaneum. | A viral histone H4 is encoded in a polydnavirus called Cotesia plutellae bracovirus (CpBV), which is symbiotic to an endoparasitoid wasp, C. plutellae. Compared to general histone H4s, the viral H4 possesses an extra N-terminal tail containing 38 amino acid residues, which has been presumed to control host gene expression in an epigenetic mode. To analyze the epigenetic control activity of CpBV-H4 on expression of immune-associated genes, it was transiently expressed in larvae of Tribolium casta ... | 2011 | 22037579 |
| the basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor family in the pea aphid, acyrthosiphon pisum. | the basic helix-loop-helix (bhlh) proteins play essential roles in a wide range of developmental processes in higher organisms. bhlh family members have been identified in over 20 organisms, including fruit fly, zebrafish, and human. this study identified 54 bhlh family members in the pea aphid, acyrthosiphon pisum (harris) (hemiptera: aphididae), genome. phylogenetic analyses revealed that they belong to 37 bhlh families with 21, 13, 9, 1, 9, and 1 members in group a, b, c, d, e, and f, respect ... | 2011 | 21870970 |
| knickkopf protein protects and organizes chitin in the newly synthesized insect exoskeleton. | during each molting cycle of insect development, synthesis of new cuticle occurs concurrently with the partial degradation of the overlying old exoskeleton. protection of the newly synthesized cuticle from molting fluid enzymes has long been attributed to the presence of an impermeable envelope layer that was thought to serve as a physical barrier, preventing molting fluid enzymes from accessing the new cuticle and thereby ensuring selective degradation of only the old one. in this study, using ... | 2011 | 21930896 |
| molecular analysis of nutritional and hormonal regulation of female reproduction in the red flour beetle, tribolium castaneum. | female reproduction includes maturation of oocytes and the synthesis of yolk proteins (vitellogenin, vg) in the fat body and their deposition into the oocytes. our recent studies showed that juvenile hormone (jh) regulates vg synthesis and 20-hydroxyecdysone (20e) regulates oocyte maturation in the red flour beetle (tribolium castaneum). here, we report on the role of nutritional signaling on vitellogenesis and oogenesis. comparison of gene expression between fed and starved beetles by microarra ... | 2011 | 21288489 |
| efficacy of bacillus thuringiensis cry3aa protoxin and protease inhibitors against coleopteran storage pests. | environmental impacts and resistance to insecticides pose serious challenges to stored-product insect and other types of pest control. insect-resistant transgenic grain is a potential alternative to fumigants, but candidate control proteins are needed, especially for coleopterans. therefore, we evaluated the efficacy of a coleopteran-active toxin, bacillus thuringiensis cry3aa, with or without protease inhibitors, in laboratory feeding assays against coleopteran storage pests. | 2011 | 21268232 |
| comparative genomic analysis of chitinase and chitinase-like genes in the african malaria mosquito (anopheles gambiae). | chitinase is an important enzyme responsible for chitin metabolism in a wide range of organisms including bacteria, yeasts and other fungi, nematodes and arthropods. however, current knowledge on chitinolytic enzymes, especially their structures, functions and regulation is very limited. in this study we have identified 20 chitinase and chitinase-like genes in the african malaria mosquito, anopheles gambiae, through genome-wide searching and transcript profiling. we assigned these genes into eig ... | 2011 | 21611131 |
| Juvenile Hormone Regulates Vitellogenin Gene Expression through Insulin-like Peptide Signaling Pathway in the Red Flour Beetle, Tribolium castaneum. | Our recent studies identified juvenile hormone (JH) and nutrition as the two key signals that regulate vitellogenin (Vg) gene expression in the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum. Juvenile hormone regulation of Vg synthesis has been known for a long time in several insects, but the mechanism of JH action is not known. Experiments were conducted to determine the mechanism of action of these two signals in regulation of Vg gene expression. Injection of bovine insulin or FOXO double-stranded RNA ... | 2011 | 22002054 |
| pathogen-origin horizontally transferred genes contribute to the evolution of lepidopteran insects. | abstract: | 2011 | 22151541 |
| toxicity of the essential oil of illicium difengpi stem bark and its constituent compounds towards two grain storage insects. | abstract during our screening program for new agrochemicals from chinese medicinal herbs, the essential oil of illicium difengpi stem bark was found to possess strong insecticidal activities against the maize weevil, sitophilus zeamais (motschulsky) (coleoptera: curculionidae) and red flour beetle, tribolium castaneum herbst (coleoptera: tenebrionidae). a total of 37 components of the essential oil of i. difengpi were identified. the main components of the essential oil were safrole (23.61%), ... | 2011 | 22236213 |
| coevolution of telomeric repeats and telomeric repeat-specific non-ltr retrotransposons in insects. | in the telomeres of the silkworm bombyx mori, telomeric repeat-specific non-long terminal repeat (ltr) retrotransposon sartbm1 is accumulated in the ttagg telomeric repeats. here, we identify novel telomeric repeat-specific non-ltr retrotransposons, sarttc family, from the red flour beetle tribolium castaneum in the unconventional tcagg telomeric repeats. to compare the sequence specificity of sartbm1 and sarttc1, we developed a comparable ex vivo retrotransposition assay. both sartbm1 and sartt ... | 2011 | 21642634 |
| search for limiting factors in the rnai pathway in silkmoth tissues and the bm5 cell line: the rna-binding proteins r2d2 and translin. | rna interference (rnai), an rna-dependent gene silencing process that is initiated by double-stranded rna (dsrna) molecules, has been applied with variable success in lepidopteran insects, in contrast to the high efficiency achieved in the coleopteran tribolium castaneum. to gain insight into the factors that determine the efficiency of rnai, a survey was carried out to check the expression of factors that constitute the machinery of the small interfering rna (sirna) and microrna (mirna) pathway ... | 2011 | 21637842 |
| contact toxicity, feeding reduction, and repellency of essential oils from three plants from the ginger family (zingiberaceae) and their major components against sitophilus zeamais and tribolium castaneum. | the essential oils from rhizomes of alpinia conchigera griff, zingiber zerumbet smitt, curcuma zedoaria (berg.) roscoe; their major compounds (camphene, camphor, 1,8-cineole, alpha-humulene, isoborneol, alpha-pinene, beta-pinene and terpinen-4-ol); and synthetic essential oils comprised of mixtures of major pure compounds in the same ratios as the extracted essential oils were tested for contact, feeding reduction, and repellency against sitophilus zeamais motschulsky and tribolium castaneum (he ... | 2011 | 21882715 |
| neurogenesis in the water flea daphnia magna (crustacea, branchiopoda) suggests different mechanisms of neuroblast formation in insects and crustaceans. | within euarthropods, the morphological and molecular mechanisms of early nervous system development have been analysed in insects and several representatives of chelicerates and myriapods, while data on crustaceans are fragmentary. neural stem cells (neuroblasts) generate the nervous system in insects and in higher crustaceans (malacostracans); in the remaining euarthropod groups, the chelicerates (e.g. spiders) and myriapods (e.g. millipedes), neuroblasts are missing. in the latter taxa, groups ... | 2011 | 21624360 |
| functions of duplicated genes encoding ccap receptors in the red flour beetle, tribolium castaneum. | crustacean cardioactive peptide (ccap) is a nonapeptide originally isolated from the shore crab, carcinus maenas, based on its cardioacceleratory activity. this peptide is highly conserved in insects and other arthropods. in insects ccap also has an essential role in ecdysis behavior. we previously identified two homologous genes, ccapr-1 and ccapr-2, encoding putative ccap receptors in the red flour beetle, tribolium castaneum. in contrast, some insects, including drosophila melanogaster, carry ... | 2011 | 21708161 |
| microrna evolution by arm switching. | micrornas (mirnas) modulate transcript stability and translation. functional mature mirnas are processed from one or both arms of the hairpin precursor. the mir-100/10 family has undergone three independent evolutionary events that have switched the arm from which the functional mirna is processed. the dominant mir-10 sequences in the insects drosophila melanogaster and tribolium castaneum are processed from opposite arms. however, the duplex produced by dicer cleavage has an identical sequence ... | 2011 | 21212805 |
| identification of the drosophila and tribolium receptors for the recently discovered insect ryamide neuropeptides. | one year ago, we discovered a new family of insect ryamide neuropeptides, which has the c-terminal consensus sequence ffxxxryamide, and which is widely occurring in most insects, including the fruitfly drosophila melanogaster and the red flour beetle tribolium castaneum (f. hauser et al., j. proteome res. 9 (2010) 5296-5310). here, we identify a drosophila g-protein-coupled receptor (gpcr) coded for by gene cg5811 and its tribolium gpcr ortholog as insect ryamide receptors. the drosophila ryamid ... | 2011 | 21843505 |
| discovery of catalytically active orthologues of the parkinson's disease kinase pink1: analysis of substrate specificity and impact of mutations. | missense mutations of the phosphatase and tensin homolog (pten)-induced kinase 1 (pink1) gene cause autosomal-recessive parkinson's disease. to date, little is known about the intrinsic catalytic properties of pink1 since the human enzyme displays such low kinase activity in vitro. we have discovered that, in contrast to mammalian pink1, insect orthologues of pink1 we have investigated-namely drosophila melanogaster (dpink1), tribolium castaneum (tcpink1) and pediculus humanus corporis (phcpink1 ... | 2011 | 22645651 |
| fumigant toxicity and oviposition deterrency of the essential oil from cardamom, elettaria cardamomum, against three stored–product insects. | use of insecticides can have disruptive effects on the environment. replacing the chemical compounds in these insecticides with plant materials, however, can be a safe method with low environmental risk. in the current study, chemical composition and insecticidal activities of the essential oil from cardamom, elettaria cardamomum l. (maton) (zingiberales: zingiberaceae) on the adults of three stored product pests was investigated. results indicated that essential oil of e. cardamomum toxic to th ... | 2011 | 22242564 |
| insecticidal activity of scorpion toxin (butait) and snowdrop lectin (gna) containing fusion proteins towards pest species of different orders. | the toxicity of a fusion protein, butalt/gna, comprising a venom toxin (butait) derived from the red scorpion, mesobuthus tamulus (f.), and galanthus nivalis agglutinin (gna), was evaluated under laboratory conditions against several pest insects. insecticidal activity was compared with sfi1/gna, a fusion comprising a venom toxin (sfi1) derived from the european spider segestria florentina (rossi) and gna, which has been previously demonstrated to be effective against lepidopteran and hemipteran ... | 2010 | 19728320 |
| occurrence of nosema oryzaephili in cryptolestes ferrugineus and transfer to the genus paranosema. | a microsporidium that closely resembles paranosema species at the level of the light microscope was isolated from the rusty grain beetle, cryptolestes ferrugineus. it's identity as nosema oryzaephili (originally described from oryzaephilus surinamensis) was confirmed by comparison with a known isolate of n. oryzaephili based on spore size, small subunit rdna sequence, and relative infectivity to o. surinamensis, tribolium castaneum, and ephestia kuehniella. phylogenetic analysis of the small sub ... | 2010 | 20460127 |
| identification, mrna expression and functional analysis of several yellow family genes in tribolium castaneum. | querying the genome of the red flour beetle, tribolium castaneum, with the drosophila melanogaster yellow-y (dmy-y) protein sequence identified 14 yellow homologs. one of these is an ortholog of dmy-y, which is required for cuticle pigmentation (melanization), and another is an ortholog of dmy-f/f2, which functions as a dopachrome conversion enzyme (dce). phylogenetic analysis identified putative t. castaneum orthologs for eight of the d. melanogaster yellow genes, including dmy-b, -c, -e, -f, - ... | 2010 | 20149870 |
| physiological truncation and domain organization of a novel uracil-dna-degrading factor. | uracil in dna is usually considered to be an error, but it may be used for signaling in drosophila development via recognition by a novel uracil-dna-degrading factor (ude) [(bekesi a et al. (2007) biochem biophys res commun 355, 643-648]. the ude protein has no detectable similarity to any other uracil-dna-binding factors, and has no structurally or functionally described homologs. here, a combination of theoretical and experimental analyses reveals the domain organization and dna-binding patter ... | 2010 | 20121948 |
| evolution of extracellular dpp modulators in insects: the roles of tolloid and twisted-gastrulation in dorsoventral patterning of the tribolium embryo. | the formation of the bmp gradient which patterns the dv axis in flies and vertebrates requires several extracellular modulators like the inhibitory protein sog/chordin, the metalloprotease tolloid (tld), which cleaves sog/chordin, and the cr domain protein twisted gastrulation (tsg). while flies and vertebrates have only one sog/chordin gene they possess several paralogues of tld and tsg. a simpler and probably ancestral situation is observed in the short-germ beetle tribolium castaneum (tc), wh ... | 2010 | 20510683 |
| genetics, development and composition of the insect head--a beetle's view. | many questions regarding evolution and ontogeny of the insect head remain open. likewise, the genetic basis of insect head development is poorly understood. recently, the investigation of gene expression data and the analysis of patterning gene function have revived interest in insect head development. here, we argue that the red flour beetle tribolium castaneum is a well suited model organism to spearhead research with respect to the genetic control of insect head development. we review recent ... | 2010 | 20800703 |
| egf signaling and the origin of axial polarity among the insects. | the eggs of insects are unusual in that they often have bilateral symmetry when they are laid, indicating that both anterior-posterior (ap) and dorsal-ventral (dv) symmetries are broken during oogenesis. the molecular basis of this process is well understood in drosophila melanogaster, in which symmetry breaking events for both axes depend on the asymmetric position of the oocyte nucleus and on germline-soma signaling mediated by the tgf alpha-like epidermal growth factor (egf) ligand gurken. ge ... | 2010 | 20471269 |
| a brain-specific cytochrome p450 responsible for the majority of deltamethrin resistance in the qtc279 strain of tribolium castaneum. | cytochrome p450-mediated detoxification is one of the most important mechanisms involved in insecticide resistance. however, the molecular basis of this mechanism and the physiological functions of p450s associated with insecticide resistance remain largely unknown. here, we exploited the functional genomics and reverse genetic approaches to identify and characterize a p450 gene responsible for the majority of deltamethrin resistance observed in the qtc279 strain of tribolium castaneum. we used ... | 2010 | 20410462 |
| characterization of juvenile hormone epoxide hydrolase and related genes in the larval development of the silkworm bombyx mori. | juvenile hormone epoxide hydrolases (jhehs) are a family of enzymes that hydrolyze juvenile hormones (jhs). they are important in terms of organ-specific regulation and irreversible degradation. in contrast to three jheh genes (jheh) in drosophila melanogaster and five jheh in tribolium castaneum, only one jheh gene has been reported to date in lepidopteran insects. by searching a genome database of the silkworm, kaikoblast, five jheh-related genes (jheh-r), in addition to bmjheh, were found. de ... | 2010 | 20622465 |
| bioactivity against tribolium castaneum herbst (coleoptera: tenebrionidae) of cymbopogon citratus and eucalyptus citriodora essential oils grown in colombia. | essential oils isolated from cymbopogon citratus (dc) stapf. and eucalyptus citriodora hook grown in colombia were analysed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (gc-ms) and tested for repellent activity and contact toxicity against tribolium castaneum (herbst.) (coleoptera: tenebrionidae). | 2010 | 20205230 |
| transfers of mitochondrial dna to the nuclear genome in the wasp nasonia vitripennis. | many organisms carry nuclear sequences of mitochondrial origin (numts). we have identified 76 numts in 25 genomic locations in the jewel wasp nasonia vitripennis. the total amount of numts in nasonia is 42 972 bp exceeding over four-fold that found in tribolium castaneum and almost fifty-fold that found in drosophila melanogaster, whereas apis mellifera has an even larger number of numts in its genome (over 230 kb). the nasonia numts were inserted by multiple independent events and frequently in ... | 2010 | 20167015 |
| the cys-loop ligand-gated ion channel gene superfamily of the parasitoid wasp, nasonia vitripennis. | members of the cys-loop ligand-gated ion channel (cyslgic) superfamily mediate chemical neurotransmission and are studied extensively as potential targets of drugs used to treat neurological disorders, such as alzheimer's disease. insect cys-loop lgics also have central roles in the nervous system and are targets of highly successful insecticides. here, we describe the cyslgic superfamily of the parasitoid wasp, nasonia vitripennis, which is emerging as a highly useful model organism and is depl ... | 2010 | 20087392 |
| a novel viral responsive protein is involved in hemocyte homeostasis in the black tiger shrimp, penaeus monodon. | a novel viral responsive protein, namely hemocyte homeostasis-associated protein (hhap), was characterized for its role in the response of shrimp to white spot syndrome virus infection. the full-length cdnas of hhap from the black tiger shrimp (pmhhap), penaeus monodon, and the fresh water crayfish (plhhap), pacifastacus leniusculus, were obtained and showed high sequence identity to a hypothetical protein from various organisms, with the highest identity to the hypothetical protein tcasga2_tc00 ... | 2010 | 20444692 |
| hyperexpression of the x chromosome in both sexes results in extensive female bias of x-linked genes in the flour beetle. | a genome's ability to produce two separate sexually dimorphic phenotypes is an intriguing biological mystery. microarray-based studies of a handful of model systems suggest that much of the mystery can be explained by sex-biased gene expression evolved in response to sexually antagonistic selection. we present the first whole-genome study of sex-biased expression in the red flour beetle, tribolium castaneum. tribolium is a model for the largest eukaryotic order, coleoptera, and we show that in w ... | 2010 | 20624738 |
| characterization of genes expressed in response to cadmium exposure in the earthworm eisenia fetida using ddrt-pcr. | the transition metal cadmium is a pervasive and persistent environmental contaminant that is both a human toxicant and a carcinogen. to inhibit cadmium-induced damage, cells increase the expression of genes encoding stress-response proteins. the transcription of many stress-responsive genes, including those that encode metallothioneins, glutathione-s-transferases (gsts) and heat shock proteins have been reported. the aim of this work was to investigate in eisenia fetida the genes whose expressio ... | 2010 | 20674023 |
| effects of short exposures to spinosad-treated wheat or maize on four stored-grain insects. | the effect of short exposures to spinosad-treated wheat, triticum aestivum l., or maize, zea mays l., was evaluated against adults of four stored-product insect species: lesser grain borer, rhyzopertha dominica (f.) (coleoptera: bostrichidae); rice weevil, sitophilus oryzae (l.) (coleoptera: curculionidae); red flour beetle, tribolium castaneum (herbst) (coleoptera: tenebrionidae); and the psocid lepinotus reticulatus (enderlein) (psocoptera: trogiidae). adult mortality of these species was reco ... | 2010 | 20214387 |
| spread of phosphine resistance among brazilian populations of three species of stored product insects. | the resistance to fumigant insecticides in stored-products insects is often recorded. several factors influence the evolution of insecticide resistance. among these, the frequency of applications and the migration of resistant populations are of primary importance for the stored-product insects. the aim of this study was to characterize the spectrum and investigate the status of phosphine resistance in brazil, in 13 populations of the coleoptera tribolium castaneum herbst (tenebrionidae), ten po ... | 2010 | 20305905 |
| molecular characterization and enzymatic analysis of juvenile hormone epoxide hydrolase genes in the red flour beetle tribolium castaneum. | juvenile hormone epoxide hydrolases (jhehs) degrade juvenile hormones (jhs) and are important for jh titre regulation. here, we report the cloning and analysis of five jheh-related (jheh-r1-r5) genes in the red flour beetle, tribolium castaneum, a model species for the coleopteran insects. t. castaneum jheh-r (tcjheh-r) proteins show high homology to lepidopteran jhehs and also to human microsomal epoxide hydrolase. in the phylogenetic tree, tcjheh-rs were clustered, and interestingly, they were ... | 2010 | 20337748 |
| paternally derived immune priming for offspring in the red flour beetle, tribolium castaneum. | 1. parasitized females in mammals, fish and birds can enhance the immune defence of their offspring by transferring specific antibodies for the embryo. likewise, social insect mothers transfer immunity despite the fact that invertebrates lack antibodies. 2. female trans-generational immune priming is consistent with parental investment theory, because mothers invest more into rearing their offspring than fathers. however, when immune priming is not directly linked to parental care, as is often t ... | 2010 | 19840170 |
| genes encoding phospholipases a2 mediate insect nodulation reactions to bacterial challenge. | we propose that expression of four genes encoding secretory phospholipases a(2) (spla(2)) mediates insect nodulation responses to bacterial infection. nodulation is the quantitatively predominant cellular defense reaction to bacterial infection. this reaction is mediated by eicosanoids, the biosynthesis of which depends on pla(2)-catalyzed hydrolysis of arachidonic acid (aa) from cellular phospholipids. injecting late instar larvae of the red flour beetle, tribolium castaneum, with the bacterium ... | 2010 | 19931277 |
| juvenile hormone synthesis: "esterify then epoxidize" or "epoxidize then esterify"? insights from the structural characterization of juvenile hormone acid methyltransferase. | juvenile hormones (jhs) play key roles in regulating metamorphosis and reproduction in insects. the last two steps of jh synthesis diverge depending on the insect order. in lepidoptera, epoxidation by a p450 monooxygenase precedes esterification by a juvenile hormone acid methyltransferase (jhamt). in orthoptera, dictyoptera, coleoptera and diptera epoxidation follows methylation. the aim of our study was to gain insight into the structural basis of jhamt's substrate recognition as a means to un ... | 2010 | 21195763 |
| survival of enterococcus faecalis og1rf:pcf10 in poultry and cattle feed: vector competence of the red flour beetle, tribolium castaneum (herbst). | laboratory experiments were designed to determine the survival of enterococcus faecalis og1rf:pcf10 in poultry and cattle feed and its acquisition and transmission by adults of the red flour beetle, tribolium castaneum (herbst), to sterile feed. adult t. castaneum beetles were introduced into poultry and cattle feed inoculated with e. faecalis og1rf:pcf10 and incubated at 28 degrees c with 65% relative humidity for 7 days in a growth chamber. e. faecalis survived in both poultry and cattle feed ... | 2010 | 20202347 |
| discovery of a novel insect neuropeptide signaling system closely related to the insect adipokinetic hormone and corazonin hormonal systems. | neuropeptides and their g protein-coupled receptors (gpcrs) play a central role in the physiology of insects. one large family of insect neuropeptides are the adipokinetic hormones (akhs), which mobilize lipids and carbohydrates from the insect fat body. other peptides are the corazonins that are structurally related to the akhs but represent a different neuropeptide signaling system. we have previously cloned an orphan gpcr from the malaria mosquito anopheles gambiae that was structurally inter ... | 2010 | 20068045 |
| chitinase-like proteins encoded in the genome of the pea aphid, acyrthosiphon pisum. | in insects, chitinases play an essential role in the degradation of old exoskeleton and turnover of the gut lining. in silico screening of the entire genome of the pea aphid (hemimetabola), acyrthosiphon pisum, detected nine genes encoding putative chitinase-like proteins, including six enzymatically active chitinases, one imaginal disc growth factor, and one endo-beta-n-acetylglucosaminidase. screening of the genomes of aedes aegypti, anopheles gambiae, apis mellifera, bombyx mori, culex quinqu ... | 2010 | 20482649 |
| diversity of insect nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunits. | nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nachrs) are ligand-gated ion channels that mediate fast synaptic transmission in the insect nervous system and are targets of a major group of insecticides, the neonicotinoids. they consist of five subunits arranged around a central ion channel since the subunit composition determines the functional and pharmacological properties of the receptor the presence of nachr families comprising several subunit-encodinggenes provides a molecular basis for broad function ... | 2010 | 20737786 |
| evolutionary conservation of amino acid composition in paralogous insect vitellogenins. | comparison of paralogous vitellogenins in 10 insect species representing six orders showed a remarkable degree of conservation of amino acid composition in spite of sequence differences. for example, the correlation between the percentages of the 20 amino acids in two vitellogenins from the beetle tribolium castaneum was 0.975, even though the two amino acid sequences differed from each other at 49.4% of sites. there was a positive correlation between the frequency of occurrence of reciprocal pa ... | 2010 | 20655995 |
| the members of bhlh transcription factor superfamily are required for female reproduction in the red flour beetle, tribolium castaneum. | proteins containing the basic helix-loop-helix (bhlh) domain function as transcription factors and play important roles during the development of various metazoans including insects, nematodes and vertebrates. insect genomes contain more than 50 bhlh transcription factors, but the function of only a few of these proteins in regulation of female reproduction is known. using rna interference, we have tested knock-down in the expression of genes coding for bhlh transcription factors in newly emerge ... | 2010 | 20223247 |
| biochemical characteristics of immune-associated phospholipase a(2) and its inhibition by an entomopathogenic bacterium, xenorhabdus nematophila. | an entomopathogenic bacterium, xenorhabdus nematophila, induces an immunosuppression of target insects by inhibiting phospholipase a(2) (pla(2)) activity. recently, an immune-associated pla(2) gene was identified from the red flour beetle, tribolium castaneum. this study cloned this pla(2) gene in a bacterial expression vector to produce a recombinant enzyme. the recombinant t. castaneum pla(2) (tcpla(2)) exhibited its characteristic enzyme activity with substrate concentration, ph, and ambient ... | 2010 | 20127473 |
| the phylogenetic distribution of non-ctcf insulator proteins is limited to insects and reveals that beaf-32 is drosophila lineage specific. | chromatin insulators are dna sequences found in eukaryotes that may organize genomes into chromatin domains by blocking enhancer-promoter interactions and preventing heterochromatin spreading. considering that insulators play important roles in organizing higher order chromatin structure and modulating gene expression, very little is known about their phylogenetic distribution. to date, six insulators and their associated proteins have been characterized, including su(hw), zw5, ctcf, gaf, mod(md ... | 2010 | 20024537 |
| mechanical properties of elytra from tribolium castaneum wild-type and body color mutant strains. | cuticle tanning in insects involves simultaneous cuticular pigmentation and hardening or sclerotization. the dynamic mechanical properties of the highly modified and cuticle-rich forewings (elytra) from tribolium castaneum (red flour beetle) wild-type and body color mutant strains were investigated to relate body coloration and elytral mechanical properties. there was no statistically significant variation in the storage modulus e' among the elytra from jet, cola, sooty and black mutants or betw ... | 2010 | 20727898 |
| two conserved z9-octadecanoic acid desaturases in the red flour beetle, tribolium castaneum. | z9 desaturases catalyse the formation of a cis-unsaturated bond in the δ9 position of the saturated fatty acids stearate and palmitate. they are considered essential enzymes in eukaryotic organisms as their z9 unsaturated fatty acid products are required for homeostatic roles such as maintenance of membrane fluidity. two putative z9 acyl coenzyme-a desaturase genes were identified in the red flour beetle, tribolium castaneum, genome (tcasz9desa and b) based on their similarity to acyl coa-desatu ... | 2010 | 20709164 |
| evaluation of quantitative pcr reference genes for gene expression studies in tribolium castaneum after fungal challenge. | to investigate gene expression in tribolium castaneum exposed to beauveria bassiana, reference genes for qpcr were evaluated. of these, beta-actin, alpha-tubulin, and rps6 were not stable. the most stable were ribosomal protein genes, rps3, rps18, and rpl13a. syntaxin1, syntaxin6, and e-cadherin may be appropriate for some experimental systems. | 2010 | 20026205 |
| identification of juvenile hormone target genes in the adult female mosquitoes. | many aspects of reproductive maturation in newly emerged adult female mosquitoes are controlled by juvenile hormone (jh). however, the molecular basis of this hormonal regulation remains poorly understood. in this study, we analyzed transcriptome changes in young female adults after topical application of exogenous jh. mrna levels of 16 and 72 genes were enhanced at 3 h and 12 h after hormone administration, respectively. the observed upregulations can be also induced by the jh analogues, methop ... | 2010 | 20018242 |
| genomics and peptidomics of neuropeptides and protein hormones present in the parasitic wasp nasonia vitripennis. | neuropeptides and protein hormones constitute a very important group of signaling molecules, regulating central physiological processes such as reproduction, development, and behavior. using a bioinformatics approach, we screened the recently sequenced genome of the parasitic wasp, nasonia vitripennis, for the presence of these signaling molecules and annotated 30 precursor genes encoding 51 different mature neuropeptides or protein hormones. twenty-four of the predicted mature nasonia neuropept ... | 2010 | 20695486 |
| a clustered set of three sp-family genes is ancestral in the metazoa: evidence from sequence analysis, protein domain structure, developmental expression patterns and chromosomal location. | the sp-family of transcription factors are evolutionarily conserved zinc finger proteins present in many animal species. the orthology of the sp genes in different animals is unclear and their evolutionary history is therefore controversially discussed. this is especially the case for the sp gene buttonhead (btd) which plays a key role in head development in drosophila melanogaster, and has been proposed to have originated by a recent gene duplication. the purpose of the presented study was to t ... | 2010 | 20353601 |
| functional shifts in insect microrna evolution. | micrornas (mirnas) are short endogenous rna molecules that regulate gene expression at the posttranscriptional level and have been shown to play critical roles during animal development. the identification and comparison of mirnas in metazoan species are therefore paramount for our understanding of the evolution of body plans. we have characterized 203 mirnas from the red flour beetle tribolium castaneum by deep sequencing of small rna libraries. we can conclude, from a single study, that the tr ... | 2010 | 20817720 |
| molecular cloning and characterization of transgelin-like proteins mainly transcribed in newborn larvae of trichinella spp. | a cdna library was constructed from trichinella pseudospiralis muscle larvae. one cdna clone, designated tp4, contained a cdna transcript of 783bp in length, with a single open reading frame that encoded 153 amino acids (16,793da as the estimated molecular mass). the predicted amino acid sequence of tp4 showed that the clone had a calponin homology domain and was approximately 50% identical to the transgelin-like proteins (calponin-family members) present in bombyx mori or tribolium castaneum. a ... | 2010 | 21242032 |
| beauveria bassiana infection alters colony development and defensive secretions of the beetles tribolium castaneum and ulomoides dermestoides (coleoptera: tenebrionidae). | we studied the effect of the entomopathogenic fungus beauveria bassiana strain gha on a) colony development of the beetles tribolium castaneum (herbst) and ulomoides dermestoides (fairmaire) (coleoptera: tenebrionidae) under laboratory conditions; and 2) the volatile blend released by both beetles, containing defensive pheromones, by using the solid phase microextraction technique. colony development of both species was strongly altered 3 mo after treatment with b. bassiana, showing a significan ... | 2010 | 20857716 |
| dietary stress increases the susceptibility of tribolium castaneum to beauveria bassiana. | sanitation being an important component of chemical-free management of stored-products pests, the nutritional stress on insects that results from a clean environment may prove advantageous to the use of microbial controls. dietary stress by food deprivation or suboptimal diet increased susceptibility of the red flour beetle, tribolium castaneum (herbst), larvae to beauveria bassiana (balsamo) vuillemin. fungus-related mortality increased linearly with the number of days of food deprivation. rear ... | 2010 | 21061951 |
| conservation, loss, and redeployment of wnt ligands in protostomes: implications for understanding the evolution of segment formation. | the wnt genes encode secreted glycoprotein ligands that regulate a wide range of developmental processes, including axis elongation and segmentation. there are thirteen subfamilies of wnt genes in metazoans and this gene diversity appeared early in animal evolution. the loss of wnt subfamilies appears to be common in insects, but little is known about the wnt repertoire in other arthropods, and moreover the expression and function of these genes have only been investigated in a few protostomes o ... | 2010 | 21122121 |
| steroid receptor co-activator is required for juvenile hormone signal transduction through a bhlh-pas transcription factor, methoprene tolerant. | metamorphosis in insects is regulated by juvenile hormone (jh) and ecdysteroids. the mechanism of 20-hydroxyecdysone (20e), but not of jh action, is well understood. a basic helix-loop-helix (bhlh)-per-arnt-sim (pas) family member, methoprene tolerant (met), plays an important role in jh action. microarray analysis and rna interference (rnai) were used to identify 69 genes that require met for their hydroprene-regulated expression in the red flour beetle, tribolium castaneum. quantitative real t ... | 2010 | 21190938 |
| acoustic indicators for targeted detection of stored product and urban insect pests by inexpensive infrared, acoustic, and vibrational detection of movement. | crawling and scraping activity of three stored-product pests, sitophilus oryzae (l.) (coleoptera: curculionidae), tribolium castaneum (herbst) (coleoptera: tenebrionidae), and stegobium paniceum (l.) (coleoptera: anobiidae), and two urban pests, blattella germanica (l.) (blattodea: blattellidae) and cimex lectularius l. (hemiptera: cimicidae), were monitored individually by infrared sensors, microphones, and a piezoelectric sensor in a small arena to evaluate effects of insect locomotory behavio ... | 2010 | 21061963 |
| the function of nuclear receptors in regulation of female reproduction and embryogenesis in the red flour beetle, tribolium castaneum. | nineteen canonical and two knirps-like family nuclear receptors (nrs) were identified in the genome of tribolium castaneum. the current study was conducted to determine the function of these nrs in regulation of female reproduction and embryogenesis. rna interference (rnai)-aided knock-down in the expression of genes coding for 21 nrs showed that seven nrs e75, hormone receptor 3 (hr3), ecdysone receptor (ecr), ultraspiracle (usp), seven-up (svp), ftz transcription factor 1 (ftz-f1) and hormone ... | 2010 | 20416316 |
| ecdysteroid regulation of ovarian growth and oocyte maturation in the red flour beetle, tribolium castaneum. | previous studies from our laboratory showed the involvement of juvenile hormone (jh) and ecdysteroid signaling in the regulation of female reproduction in the red flour beetle, tribolium castaneum. jh regulates vitellogenin (vg) synthesis in the fat body but the role of ecdysteroid signaling is not known. here, we report on ecdysteroid regulation of ovarian growth and oocyte maturation. microarray analysis of rna isolated from ovaries showed the up-regulation of several genes coding for proteins ... | 2010 | 20385235 |
| juvenile hormone regulation of vitellogenin synthesis in the red flour beetle, tribolium castaneum. | to elucidate the endocrine regulation of vitellogenin (vg) synthesis in the red flour beetle, tribolium castaneum, the titers of juvenile hormone (jh) and ecdysteroids in the whole body of female beetles were measured and compared with vg mrna levels. juvenile hormone levels remained high while the ecdysteroid levels declined steadily during 1-5 days post adult emergence (pae). the vg mrna levels began to increase by the end of 3rd day pae and peaked by the 4th-5th day pae. gene expression profi ... | 2010 | 20381616 |
| functional characterization of pas and hes family bhlh transcription factors during the metamorphosis of the red flour beetle, tribolium castaneum. | the basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors are present in animals, plants and fungi and play important roles in the control of cellular proliferation, tissue differentiation, development and detoxification. although insect genomes contain more than 50 helix-loop-helix transcription factors, the functions of only a few are known. rnai has become a widely used tool to knock-down the expression to analyze the function of genes. as rnai works well in tribolium castaneum, we utilized this insec ... | 2009 | 19683038 |
| juvenile hormone regulation of male accessory gland activity in the red flour beetle, tribolium castaneum. | male accessory gland proteins (acps) act as key modulators of reproductive success in insects by influencing the female reproductive physiology and behavior. we used custom microarrays and identified 112 genes that were highly expressed in male accessory glands (mag) in the red flour beetle, tribolium castaneum. out of these 112 identified genes, 59 of them contained sequences coding for signal peptide and cleavage site and the remaining 53 contained transmembrane domains. the expression of 14 o ... | 2009 | 19324087 |
| evolution of the sugar receptors in insects. | perception of sugars is an invaluable ability for insects which often derive quickly accessible energy from these molecules. a distinctive subfamily of eight proteins within the gustatory receptor (gr) family has been identified as sugar receptors (srs) in drosophila melanogaster (gr5a, gr61a, and gr64a-f). we examined the evolution of these srs within the 12 available drosophila genome sequences, as well as three mosquito, two moth, and beetle, bee, and wasp genome sequences. | 2009 | 19226470 |
| molecular and functional analyses of amino acid decarboxylases involved in cuticle tanning in tribolium castaneum. | aspartate 1-decarboxylase (adc) and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine decarboxylase (ddc) provide beta-alanine and dopamine used in insect cuticle tanning. beta-alanine is conjugated with dopamine to yield n-beta-alanyldopamine (nbad), a substrate for the phenol oxidase laccase that catalyzes the synthesis of cuticle protein cross-linking agents and pigment precursors. we identified adc and ddc genes in the red flour beetle, tribolium castaneum (tc), and investigated their functions. tcadc mrna was mos ... | 2009 | 19366687 |
| antibacterial, antifungal, insecticidal, cytotoxicity and phytotoxicity studies on indigofera gerardiana. | the antibacterial, antifungal, acute cytotoxicity, phytotoxicity and insecticidal profile of the crude extract and various fractions of indigofera gerardiana have been studied. six bacterial and fungal strains were used, of which samonella typhi and microsporum canis were the most susceptible strains with mics 0.37 mg/ml and 0.09 mg/ml, respectively. the crude extract and the fractions showed low insecticidal activity against sitophilus oryzae, rhyzopertha dominica and callosbruchus analis but n ... | 2009 | 18825532 |
| the small heat shock protein (shsp) genes in the silkworm, bombyx mori, and comparative analysis with other insect shsp genes. | small heat shock proteins (shsps) are products of heat shock response and of other stress responses, and ubiquitous in all three domains of life, archaea, bacteria, and eukarya. they mainly function as molecular chaperones to protect proteins from being denatured in extreme conditions. study on insect shsps could provide some insights into evolution of insects that have adapted to diverse niches in the world. | 2009 | 19715580 |
| predicting stored grain insect population densities using an electronic probe trap. | manual sampling of insects in stored grain is a laborious and time-consuming process. automation of grain sampling should help to increase the adoption of stored grain integrated pest management. a new commercial electronic grain probe trap (opi insector) has recently been marketed. we field tested opi insector electronic grain probes in two bins, each containing 32.6 tonnes of wheat, triticum aestivum l., over a 2-yr period. we developed new statistical models to convert insector catch into ins ... | 2009 | 19736786 |
| 454 pyrosequencing based transcriptome analysis of zygaena filipendulae with focus on genes involved in biosynthesis of cyanogenic glucosides. | an essential driving component in the co-evolution of plants and insects is the ability to produce and handle bioactive compounds. plants produce bioactive natural products for defense, but some insects detoxify and/or sequester the compounds, opening up for new niches with fewer competitors. to study the molecular mechanism behind the co-adaption in plant-insect interactions, we have investigated the interactions between lotus corniculatus and zygaena filipendulae. they both contain cyanogenic ... | 2009 | 19954531 |
| conservation of enhancer location in divergent insects. | dorsoventral (dv) patterning of the drosophila embryo is controlled by a concentration gradient of dorsal, a sequence-specific transcription factor related to mammalian nf-kappab. the dorsal gradient generates at least 3 distinct thresholds of gene activity and tissue specification by the differential regulation of target enhancers containing distinctive combinations of binding sites for dorsal, twist, snail, and other dv determinants. to understand the evolution of dv patterning mechanisms, we ... | 2009 | 19666595 |
| loss of tc-arrow and canonical wnt signaling alters posterior morphology and pair-rule gene expression in the short-germ insect, tribolium castaneum. | wnt signaling has been implicated in posterior patterning in short-germ insects, including the red flour beetle tribolium castaneum (bolognesi et al. curr biol 18:1624-1629, 2008b; angelini and kaufman dev biol 283:409-423, 2005; miyawaki et al. mech dev 121:119-130, 2004). specifically, depletion of wnt ligands tc-wnt1 and tc-wntd/8 produces tribolium embryos lacking abdominal segments. similar phenotypes are produced by depletion of tc-porcupine (tc-porc) or tc-pangolin (tc-pan), indicating th ... | 2009 | 19705150 |
| evolutionary conservation and changes in insect trp channels. | trp (transient receptor potential) channels respond to diverse stimuli and thus function as the primary integrators of varied sensory information. they are also activated by various compounds and secondary messengers to mediate cell-cell interactions as well as to detect changes in the local environment. their physiological roles have been primarily characterized only in mice and fruit flies, and evolutionary studies are limited. to understand the evolution of insect trp channels and the mechani ... | 2009 | 19740447 |
| comparative and functional genomics of lipases in holometabolous insects. | lipases have key roles in insect lipid acquisition, storage and mobilisation and are also fundamental to many physiological processes underpinning insect reproduction, development, defence from pathogens and oxidative stress, and pheromone signalling. we have screened the recently sequenced genomes of five species from four orders of holometabolous insects, the dipterans drosophila melanogaster and anopheles gambiae, the hymenopteran apis mellifera, the moth bombyx mori and the beetle tribolium ... | 2009 | 19540341 |
| larval leg integrity is maintained by distal-less and is required for proper timing of metamorphosis in the flour beetle, tribolium castaneum. | the dramatic transformation from a larva to an adult must be accompanied by a coordinated activity of genes and hormones that enable an orchestrated transformation from larval to pupal/adult tissues. the maintenance of larval appendages and their subsequent transformation to appendages in holometabolous insects remains elusive at the developmental genetic level. here the role of a key appendage patterning gene distal-less (dll) was examined in mid- to late-larval stages of the flour beetle, trib ... | 2009 | 19022238 |
| the aedes aegypti larval transcriptome: a comparative perspective with emphasis on trypsins and the domain structure of peritrophins. | the genome sequence of aedes aegypti was recently reported. a significant amount of expressed sequence tags (ests) were sequenced to aid in the gene prediction process. in the present work we describe an integrated analysis of the genomic and est data, focusing on genes with preferential expression in larvae (lg), adults (ag) and in both stages (sg). a total of 913 genes (5.4% of the transcript complement) are lg, including ion transporters and cuticle proteins that are important for ion homeost ... | 2009 | 19054160 |
| the insect caspases. | developmental and tissue homeostasis is a delicate balance between cell proliferation and cell death. the activation of caspases, a conserved family of cysteine proteases, is a main event in the initiation and execution of programmed cell death. while caspases have been characterized from many organisms, comparatively little is known about insect caspases. in drosophila melanogaster, seven caspases have been characterized; three initiators and four effectors. in mosquitoes, several putative casp ... | 2009 | 19212814 |
| mmps regulate both development and immunity in the tribolium model insect. | matrix metalloproteinases (mmps) are evolutionarily conserved and multifunctional effector molecules in development and homeostasis. in spite of previous, intensive investigation in vitro and in cell culture, their pleiotrophic functions in vivo are still not well understood. | 2009 | 19270735 |
| the insect snmp gene family. | snmps are membrane proteins observed to associate with chemosensory neurons in insects; in drosophila melanogaster, snmp1 has been shown to be essential for the detection of the pheromone cis-vaccenyl acetate (cva). snmps are one of three insect gene clades related to the human fatty acid transporter cd36. we previously characterized the cd36 gene family in 4 insect orders that effectively cover the holometabola, or some 80% of known insect species and the 300 million years of evolution since th ... | 2009 | 19364529 |