Deficiencies in acetyl-CoA carboxylase and fatty acid synthase 1 differentially affect eggshell formation and blood meal digestion in Aedes aegypti.

ABSTRACT: To better understand the mechanism of de novo lipid biosynthesis in blood fed Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, we quantitated acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) and fatty acid synthase 1 (FAS1) transcript levels in blood fed mosquitoes, and used RNAi methods to generate ACC and FAS1 deficient mosquitoes. Using the ketogenic amino acid (14)C-leucine as a metabolic precursor of (14)C-acetyl-CoA, we found that (14)C-triacylglycerol and (14)C-phospholipid levels were significantly reduced in both ACC and FAS1 deficient mosquitoes, confirming that ACC and FAS1 are required for de novo lipid biosynthesis after blood feeding. Surprisingly however, we also found that ACC deficient mosquitoes, but not FAS1 deficient mosquitoes, produced defective oocytes, which lacked an intact eggshell and gave rise to inviabl

SUBMITTER: Alabaster A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3210400 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature