Sexual transfer of the steroid hormone 20E induces the postmating switch in Anopheles gambiae.

ABSTRACT: Female insects generally mate multiple times during their lives. A notable exception is the female malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae, which after sex loses her susceptibility to further copulation. Sex in this species also renders females competent to lay eggs developed after blood feeding. Despite intense research efforts, the identity of the molecular triggers that cause the postmating switch in females, inducing a permanent refractoriness to further mating and triggering egg-laying, remains elusive. Here we show that the male-transferred steroid hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) is a key regulator of monandry and oviposition in An. gambiae. When sexual transfer of 20E is impaired by partial inactivation of the hormone and inhibition of its biosynthesis in males, oviposition and refracto

SUBMITTER: Gabrieli P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4246312 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature