scholarly journals The Filippi’s Glands of Giant Silk Moths: To Be or Not to Be?

Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 1040
Author(s):  
Hana Sehadova ◽  
Radka Zavodska ◽  
Michal Zurovec ◽  
Ivo Sauman

The Filippi’s glands (FGs), formerly “Lyonet’s glands”, are paired accessory organs associated with the silk glands. They are unique to Lepidoptera caterpillars and their exact role is not clear. The FGs are thought to be involved in the construction of a silk cocoon in bombycoid moths. FGs can differ in size and shape, therefore, in this study we attempt to find a correlation between FG morphology and phylogenetic position within the Bombycoidea. We use light and electron microscopy to examine the presence and morphology of FGs in a range of wild (giant) silk moths and several related species. Our results confirm that the majority of studied silk moth species have complex type of FGs that continuously increase in size during larval development. We identified several species of giant silk moths and two hawk moth species that completely lack FGs throughout their larval development. Finally, in several hawk moth species in which FGs are well developed during the first larval stage, these glands do not grow and remain small during later larval growth. Our results suggest that FGs are not critical for spinning and that loss of FGs occurred several times during the evolution of saturniids and sphingids. Comparison of FGs in different moths is an important first step in the elucidation of their physiological significance.

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (24) ◽  
pp. 13523
Author(s):  
Hana Sehadova ◽  
Radka Zavodska ◽  
Lenka Rouhova ◽  
Michal Zurovec ◽  
Ivo Sauman

Filippi’s glands (FGs), formerly also called Lyonet’s glands, are accessory secretory structures of the labial (silk) glands of lepidopteran caterpillars, which were implicated to play an important role in the maturation of the silk material and the construction of the cocoon. In our previous study, we have identified several species of giant silk moths that completely lack the FGs. Interestingly, the absence of FGs in these species correlates with the construction of a loose cocoon architecture. We investigated the functions of FGs by their surgical extirpation in the last instar larvae of the silkworm, Bombyx mori. We found that the absence of FGs altered the structure of the resulting cocoon, in which the different layers of silk were separated. In further experiments, we found no effects of the absence of FGs on larval cocoon formation behavior or on changes in cocoon mass or lipid content. Differential proteomic analysis revealed no significant contribution of structural proteins from FGs to silk cocoon material, but we identified several low abundance proteins that may play a role in posttranslational modifications of some silk proteins. Proteomic analysis also revealed a difference in phosphorylation of the N-terminal sequence of fibroin-heavy chain molecule. Thus, FGs appear to affect silk stickiness during spinning by regulating posttranslational modifications. This could also explain the link that exists between the absence of these glands and the formation of loose cocoons in some giant silk moth species.


Author(s):  
Cynthia D. Trowbridge

The stenophagous ascoglossan (=sacoglossan) opisthobranch Elysia viridis has long been a model organism for the study of endosymbiosis or kleptoplasty as well as one of the few herbivores to consume the introduced green macroalga Codium fragile on European shores. Larval and post-larval dynamics of the ascoglossan were investigated. Planktotrophic larvae of E. viridis grew at 5–10 μm d−1 (shell length) at 15°C on a unicellular algal diet (the cryptophyte Rhodomonas baltica); larvae became competent one month post-hatching. Effective feeding and chloroplast acquisition typically started within 2–3 d of metamorphosis. Slugs grew about 8 mm in the first month of post-larval life. During this period, juveniles held in the light did not grow faster or survive better than conspecifics held in the dark; thus, functional kleptoplasty did not occur during first three weeks of benthic life. While larval growth rates and the nature of metamorphic cues are consistent with those of many other opisthobranch species with planktotrophic larvae, measures of post-larval growth—particularly as it pertains to kleptoplasty—is a new contribution to opisthobranch biology.


Genetics ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 163 (1) ◽  
pp. 227-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lowell Y M Rayburn ◽  
Holly C Gooding ◽  
Semil P Choksi ◽  
Dhea Maloney ◽  
Ambrose R Kidd ◽  
...  

Abstract Biosynthesis of most peptide hormones and neuropeptides requires proteolytic excision of the active peptide from inactive proprotein precursors, an activity carried out by subtilisin-like proprotein convertases (SPCs) in constitutive or regulated secretory pathways. The Drosophila amontillado (amon) gene encodes a homolog of the mammalian PC2 protein, an SPC that functions in the regulated secretory pathway in neuroendocrine tissues. We have identified amon mutants by isolating ethylmethanesulfonate (EMS)-induced lethal and visible mutations that define two complementation groups in the amon interval at 97D1 of the third chromosome. DNA sequencing identified the amon complementation group and the DNA sequence change for each of the nine amon alleles isolated. amon mutants display partial embryonic lethality, are defective in larval growth, and arrest during the first to second instar larval molt. Mutant larvae can be rescued by heat-shock-induced expression of the amon protein. Rescued larvae arrest at the subsequent larval molt, suggesting that amon is also required for the second to third instar larval molt. Our data indicate that the amon proprotein convertase is required during embryogenesis and larval development in Drosophila and support the hypothesis that AMON acts to proteolytically process peptide hormones that regulate hatching, larval growth, and larval ecdysis.


Phytotaxa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 319 (1) ◽  
pp. 84 ◽  
Author(s):  
XUDONG LIU ◽  
HUAN ZHU ◽  
BENWEN LIU ◽  
GUOXIANG LIU ◽  
ZHENGYU HU

The genus Nephrocytium Nägeli is a common member of phytoplankton communities that has a distinctive morphology. Its taxonomic position is traditionally considered to be within the family Oocystaceae (Trebouxiophyceae). However, research on its ultrastructure is rare, and the phylogenetic position has not yet been determined. In this study, two strains of Nephrocytium, N. agardhianum Nägeli and N. limneticum (G.M.Smith) G.M.Smith, were identified and successfully cultured in the laboratory. Morphological inspection by light and electron microscopy and molecular phylogenetic analyses were performed to explore the taxonomic position. Ultrastructure implied a likely irregular network of dense and fine ribs on the surface of the daughter cell wall that resembled that of the genus Chromochloris Kol & Chodat (Chromochloridaceae). Phylogenetic analyses revealed that Nephrocytium formed an independent lineage in the order Sphaeropleales (Chlorophyceae) with high support values and a close phylogenetic relationship with Chromochloris. Based on combined morphological, ultrastructural and phylogenetic data, we propose a re-classification of Nephrocytium into Sphaeropleales, sharing a close relationship with Chromochloris.


2011 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 460-464 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve S. Doo ◽  
Symon A. Dworjanyn ◽  
Shawna A. Foo ◽  
Natalie A. Soars ◽  
Maria Byrne

Abstract Doo, S. S., Dworjanyn, S. A., Foo, S. A., Soars, N. A., and Byrne, M. 2012. Impacts of ocean acidification on development of the meroplanktonic larval stage of the sea urchin Centrostephanus rodgersii. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 69: 460–464. The effects of near-future ocean acidification/hypercapnia on larval development were investigated in the sea urchin Centrostephanus rodgersii, a habitat-modifying species from eastern Australia. Decreased pH (−0.3 to −0.5 pH units) or increased pCO2 significantly reduced the percentage of normal larvae. Larval growth was negatively impacted with smaller larvae in the pH 7.6/1800 ppm treatments. The impact of acidification on development was similar on days 3 and 5, indicating deleterious effects early in development. On day 3, increased abnormalities in the pH 7.6/1600 ppm treatment were seen in aberrant prism stage larvae and arrested/dead embryos. By day 5, echinoplutei in this treatment had smaller arm rods. Observations of smaller larvae in C. rodgersii have significant implications for this species because larval success may be a potential bottleneck for persistence in a changing ocean.


Author(s):  
R. A. Lutz ◽  
R. Mann ◽  
J. G. Goodsell ◽  
M. Castagna

Mature eggs were stripped from ripe adult specimens of Arctica islandica and exposed to a dilute solution of ammonium hydroxide for various lengths of time before addition of stripped sperm. Larval and early post-larval stages were cultured under experimental laboratory conditions using standard bivalve rearing techniques. Larval cultures were maintained at various controlled temperatures ranging from 8·5 to 14·5 °C. Minimum time to settlement was 32 days at a temperature of approximately 13 °C; at temperatures between 8·5 and 10·0 °C, settlement was not observed until approximately 55 days after fertilization. Larval growth rates were significantly faster at temperatures between 11·0 and 145 °C than at temperatures between 8°C. Morphometry of the larval shell and morphology of the larval hinge apparatus were independent of larval growth rates and experimental culture conditions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 69 (Suppl.1) ◽  
pp. 452-463
Author(s):  
Jimena Pía-Fernández ◽  
Florencia Belén-Chaar ◽  
Lucía Epherra ◽  
Jorge-Marcelo González-Aravena ◽  
Tamara Rubilar

Introduction: Embryonic and larval development in sea urchins is highly dependent on maternal nutritional status and on the environmental conditions of the seawater. Objective: To compare the development of Arbacia dufresnii in two different water temperatures and in progeny with varying maternal origins. Methods: We induced A. dufresnii females and males from Nuevo Gulf to spawn, collected the eggs of each female individually (progeny), separated them into two seawater temperatures (12 and 17 °C), and fertilized them. We recorded the percentage of fertilized eggs and embryos per developmental stage according to time, temperature and progeny. We measured larval growth by total length (TL) and midline body length (M) according to time post fecundation (DPF), temperature, and progeny. Results: Temperature did not affect fertilization, but embryo development was faster and more synchronized in the high temperature treatment. The generalized linear models indicate that embryo development depends on a quadruple interaction between the embryonic stage, time (h), seawater temperature and progeny. Larval growth was faster, producing larger larvae at the highest temperature. Larval growth depends on a triple interaction between time (DPF), seawater temperature and progeny. Conclusions: We found a temperature and progeny impact during embryonic and larval development and, in both cases, these factors generate a synergistic effect on developmental timing and larval size. This probably provides a survival advantage as a more rapid speed of development implies a decrease in the time spent in the water column, where the sea urchins are vulnerable to biotic and abiotic stressors.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pablo M. Gonzalez-De-la-Rosa ◽  
Mariana Ramirez Loustalot-Laclette ◽  
Cei Abreu-Goodger ◽  
Therese Ann Markow

ABSTRACTSecond instar larvae of the monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus, from a nonmigratory population in Irapuato, Mexico, were reared for twenty-four hours on three species of milkweed hosts: Asclepias curassavica, A. linaria, and Gomphocarpus physocarpus. We then measured larval growth and differential expression of coding genes and of microRNAs. Larval growth was similar on the two Asclepias species, while little growth was observed on G. physocarpus. The greatest differences in coding gene expression occurred in genes controlling growth and detoxification and were most extreme in comparisons between G. physocarpus and the two Asclepias. MicroRNAs are predicted to be involved as regulators of many of these processes, in particular miR-278, differentially expressed here, could be an important regulator of growth through Hippo signaling. The implications for survival of the monarch, especially in the context of environmental factors altering the availability of their favored milkweed species, are discussed.


2010 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
pp. 459-463 ◽  
Author(s):  
MJT. Assunção-Albuquerque ◽  
MC. Peso-Aguiar ◽  
FS. Albuquerque

There is much evidence to support that Mocis latipes larvae (Guenèe, 1852) are the most dangerous pasture pest and usually cause large environmental losses. However, no studies have been carried out to identify the instars during which this moth causes the most damage to the environment. Here we calculate M. latipes larval energy budget to assess its consumption across all instars and estimate the consumption/amount of plant biomass required to complete its larval development. Assimilation, respiration, consumption, excretion, gross growth efficiency and net growth efficiency were calculated. Pearson correlations were used to identify the best predictors that influenced larval growth and weight. Across all instars consumption increased exponentially, especially during the last phase. M. latipes larvae consumed ca 13.8% of total food from the first to the fifth instar, whereas during the sixth instars these larvae consumed ca 72.6%. Results also show that the best gross growth and net growth efficiency were obtained when larvae reached the fifth instar. The results also show that one larva of Mocis latipes consumes 1.02 g (dry weight) of Paspalum maritimum (Trin) in 19 days. Overall, our results indentified the sixth instar as the most destructive instar of this insect. Thus, once we know the most destructive instars of this pest, measures can be taken to disable M. latipes larval development and consequently stop their increase in plant consumption, reducing ecological and economic damage. This knowledge may eventually lead to reduced agricultural damage and contribute to sustainable farming strategies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick A. Guerra ◽  
Lucinda P. Lawson ◽  
Lea J. Gatto ◽  
Molly E. Albright ◽  
Scott J. Smith
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