The blood-sucking hemipteran Rhodnius prolixus is one of the main vectors of Chagas disease, a neglected tropical disease that affects several million people worldwide. Consuming a blood meal and mating are events with a high epidemiological impact since after each meal, mated females can lay fertile eggs that result in hundreds of offspring. Thus, a better knowledge of the control of R. prolixus reproductive capacity may provide targets for developing novel strategies to control vector populations, thereby reducing vector-host contacts and disease transmission. Here, we have used a combination of gene transcript expression analysis, biochemical assays, hormone measurements and studies of locomotory activity to investigate how mating influences egg development and egg laying rates in R. prolixus females. The results demonstrate that a blood meal increases egg production capacity and leads to earlier egg laying in mated females compared to virgins. Virgin females, however, have increased survival rate over mated females. Circulating juvenile hormone (JH) and ecdysteroid titers are increased in mated females, a process mainly driven through an upregulation of the transcripts for their biosynthetic enzymes in the corpus allatum and ovaries, respectively. Mated females display weaker locomotory activity compared to virgin females, mainly during the photophase. In essence, this study shows how reproductive output and behaviour are profoundly influenced by mating, highlighting molecular, biochemical, endocrine and behavioral features differentially expressed in mated and virgin R. prolixus females.

• MeSH
• Chagasova nemoc * MeSH
• kladení vajíček fyziologie   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• paraziti * MeSH
• Rhodnius * fyziologie   MeSH
• rozmnožování MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural MeSH

The rigorous balance of endocrine signals that control insect reproductive physiology is crucial for the success of egg production. Rhodnius prolixus, a blood-feeding insect and main vector of Chagas disease, has been used over the last century as a model to unravel aspects of insect metabolism and physiology. Our recent work has shown that nutrition, insulin signaling, and two main types of insect lipophilic hormones, juvenile hormone (JH) and ecdysteroids, are essential for successful reproduction in R. prolixus; however, the interplay behind these endocrine signals has not been established. We used a combination of hormone treatments, gene expression analyses, hormone measurements, and ex vivo experiments using the corpus allatum or the ovary, to investigate how the interaction of these endocrine signals might define the hormone environment for egg production. The results show that after a blood meal, circulating JH levels increase, a process mainly driven through insulin and allatoregulatory neuropeptides. In turn, JH feeds back to provide some control over its own biosynthesis by regulating the expression of critical biosynthetic enzymes in the corpus allatum. Interestingly, insulin also stimulates the synthesis and release of ecdysteroids from the ovary. This study highlights the complex network of endocrine signals that, together, coordinate a successful reproductive cycle.

• Klíčová slova
• corpus allatum, endocrine signaling, hormone titers, insect, ovary,
• MeSH
• ekdysteroidy metabolismus   MeSH
• hmyzí hormony * metabolismus   MeSH
• inzulin lidský MeSH
• inzulin metabolismus   MeSH
• juvenilní hormony metabolismus   MeSH
• Rhodnius * metabolismus   MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• ekdysteroidy MeSH
• hmyzí hormony * MeSH
• inzulin lidský MeSH
• inzulin MeSH
• juvenilní hormony MeSH