Accessory gland as a site for prothoracicotropic hormone controlled ecdysone synthesis in adult male insects.

ABSTRACT: Insect steroid hormones (ecdysteroids) are important for female reproduction in many insect species and are required for the initiation and coordination of vital developmental processes. Ecdysteroids are also important for adult male physiology and behavior, but their exact function and site of synthesis remains unclear, although previous studies suggest that the reproductive system may be their source. We have examined expression profiles of the ecdysteroidogenic Halloween genes, during development and in adults of the flour beetle Tribolium castaneum. Genes required for the biosynthesis of ecdysone (E), the precursor of the molting hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E), are expressed in the tubular accessory glands (TAGs) of adult males. In contrast, expression of the gene encoding the enzyme

SUBMITTER: Hentze JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3562185 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature