Adipokinetic hormones are peptide hormones that mobilize lipids and/or carbohydrates for flight in adult insects and activate glycogen Phosphorylase in larvae during starvation and during molt. We previously examined the functional roles of adipokinetic hormone in Manduca sexta L. (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae). Here we report the cloning of the full-length cDNA encoding the putative adipokinetic ho...

Feeding by the tobacco specialist Manduca sexta (Lepidoptera, Sphingidae) and application of larval oral secretions and regurgitant (R) to mechanical wounds are known to elicit: (a) a systemic release of mono- and sesquiterpenes, (b) a jasmonate burst, and (c) R-specific changes in transcript accumulation of putatively growth- and defense-related mRNAs in Nicotiana attenuata Torr. ex Wats. We i...

The transmembrane sector of V-ATPases is involved in proton conduction across the membrane where a 15-17 kDa proteolipid forms a putative proton channel. An affinity-purified rabbit polyclonal antibody was developed to an antigenic and putatively extracellular region of a cloned 17 kDa proteolipid. In larval tissue sections, this antibody labeled the midgut goblet cell apical membrane in Heliot...

The binding of the geometrical isomers (>/=99% pure) of juvenile hormone I to the hemolymph juvenile hormone binding protein of Manduca sexta (Lepidoptera, Sphingidae) was analyzed. A technique is described for isomer separation by micropreparative high-resolution liquid chromatography. Analysis of competition was performed by using a "batch adsorption" hydroxylapatite binding assay. Competitio...

PURPOSE To review, contrast, and compare current known tapetal mechanisms and review the implications for the evolution of the tapetum. METHODS Ocular specimens of representative fish in key piscine families, including Acipenseridae, Cyprinidae, Chacidae; the reptilian family Crocodylidae; the mammalian family Felidae; and the Lepidopteran family Sphingidae were reviewed and compared histolog...

We report on experiments designed to more thoroughly document the roles of eicosanoids as crucial elements in cell spreading and on experiments designed to test the hypothesis that in vivo bacterial infections influence cell spreading on glass surfaces. We used hemocytes prepared from tobacco hornworms, Manduca sexta (L.) (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) and four species of bacteria ( Serratia marcesc...

Striated muscles of both vertebrates and insects contain a third filament composed of the giant proteins, namely kettin and projectin (insects) and titin (vertebrates). All three proteins have been shown to contain several domains implicated in conferring elasticity, in particular a PEVK segment. In this study, the characterization of the projectin protein in the silkmoth, Bombyx mori L. (Lepid...