The interaction of feeding and mating in the hormonal control of egg production in Rhodnius prolixus

2007 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 208-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth Davey
1965 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 425-431
Author(s):  
G. C. COLES

1. There are two adult-specific proteins in the haemolymph of Rhodnius. They appear to be formed in the fat body. 2. The two proteins are absorbed by the oocytes and form the bulk of the soluble egg proteins. 3. The changes in the concentration of total protein in the haemolymph and of four protein fractions, as separated on cellulose acetate, do not reflect egg production. This may be a consequence of the hormonal control of reproduction.


1965 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 373-378
Author(s):  
K. G. DAVEY

1. Mated females of Rhodnius prolixus lay eggs at approximately twice the rate of unmated females. 2. Males which have had their seminal vesicles or opaque accessory glands removed produce spermatophores at mating, but no spermatozoa appear in the spermathecae of the females. The females involved in such matings do not exhibit an increase in egg-production. 3. When females lacking their spermathecae are mated to normal males, the increase in egg production which follows normal matings does not materialize. 4. Implanting spermathecae from mated females into virgin females increases the egg-production of the host. Implanting spermathecae from virgin females or seminal vesicles or transparent accessory glands from males has no effect on the egg-production of the donor. 5. It is tentatively concluded that a blood-borne factor from the spermathecae containing spermatozoa is the primary stimulus to increased egg production in a mated female.


Parasitology ◽  
1944 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 220-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Brecher ◽  
V. B. Wigglesworth

Actinomyces rhodnii has been isolated regularly from Rhodnius prolixus reared in the laboratory. It is not transmitted through the egg but is taken up by the young nymph from the environment; sometimes from the contaminated surface of the egg; more often perhaps from the dry excreta of other members of the species.Rhodnius has been reared free from Actinomyces by sterilizing the surface of the egg and feeding with suitable precautions.These sterile insects grow and moult normally until the 4th or 5th instar. Moulting is then delayed or may fail entirely in spite of repeated feeds of blood. Very few insects without Actinomyces become adult, and those few are almost certainly incapable of reproduction. Normal growth and moulting and egg production are resumed if the insects are re-infected with Actinomyces.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Caroline P. Gandara ◽  
Felipe A. Dias ◽  
Paula C. de Lemos ◽  
Renata Stiebler ◽  
Ana Cristina S. Bombaça ◽  
...  

Low levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) are now recognized as essential players in cell signaling. Here, we studied the role of two conserved enzymes involved in redox regulation that play a critical role in the control of ROS in the digestive physiology of a blood-sucking insect, the kissing bugRhodnius prolixus. RNAi-mediated silencing ofRpNOX5andRpXDHinduced early mortality in adult females after a blood meal. Recently, a role forRpNOX5in gut motility was reported, and here, we show that midgut peristalsis is also under the control ofRpXDH. Together with impaired peristalsis, silencing either genes impaired egg production and hemoglobin digestion, and decreased hemolymph urate titers. Ultrastructurally, the silencing ofRpNOX5orRpXDHaffected midgut cells, changing the cells of blood-fed insects to a phenotype resembling the cells of unfed insects, suggesting that these genes work together in the control of blood digestion. Injection of either allopurinol (an XDH inhibitor) or uricase recapitulated the gene silencing effects, suggesting that urate itself is involved in the control of blood digestion. The silencing of each of these genes influenced the expression of the other gene in a complex way both in the unfed state and after a blood meal, revealing signaling crosstalk between them that influences redox metabolism and nitrogen excretion and plays a central role in the control of digestive physiology.


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