A shut-down in expression of an insulin-like peptide, ILP-1, halts ovarian maturation during the overwintering diapause of the mosquito Culex pipiens.

ABSTRACT: Short day-length is used to programme adult diapause in the mosquito, Culex pipiens. The downstream endocrine event that halts ovarian maturation is a shut-down in juvenile hormone (JH) production, and recent evidence suggests that the insulin signalling pathway may be a key upstream player in executing this developmental arrest. Genes encoding insulin-like peptides-1, -2 and -5 were identified in C. pipiens, and we report that transcript levels of insulin-like peptides-1 and -5 were significantly lower in diapausing females than in their nondiapausing counterparts. Genes encoding both insulin-like peptides-1 and -5 were suppressed using RNA interference in mosquitoes programmed for nondiapause, and ovarian maturation was monitored. Knocking down insulin-like peptide-1 with RNAi in nondiap

SUBMITTER: Sim C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3835429 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature