The reorganization of mesenchymal cells into an epithelial sheet is a widely used morphogenetic process in metazoans. An example of such a process is the formation of the Drosophila larval midgut epithelium that develops through a mesenchymal-epithelial transition from endodermal midgut precursors. We have studied this process in wild type and a number of mutants that show defects in midgut epi...

The effect of a neuropeptide, the tachykinin on α-amylase, protease and lipase activities in the midgut of American cockroach, Periplaneta americana (Linnaeus) is evaluated . Immunohistochemical reactivities against tachykinin (tachykininir) were detected in the midgut. Tachykinin-ir cells in three regions (anterior, median and posterior) of the midgut were counted in normally fed, starved for ...

The midgut is the major organ for food digestion, nutrient absorption and also a barrier for foreign substance. The 5th-instar larval stage of silkworm is very important for larval growth, development, and silk production. In the present study, we used 2-DE and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) to analyze the midgut proteins from the 5th...

ABSTRACT Transmission of Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) is dependent on virus uptake in the midgut prior to virus movement to the salivary glands. Replication of TSWV in the alimentary canal of tobacco thrips (TT, Frankliniella fusca) and western flower thrips (WFT, F. occidentalis) was investigated by immunolocalization of the nonstructural protein (NSs) encoded by the small RNA of TSWV and ...

The spectra of Tribolium castaneum and T. confusum larval digestive peptidases were characterized with respect to the spatial organization of protein digestion in the midgut. The pH of midgut contents in both species increased from 5.6-6.0 in the anterior to 7.0-7.5 in the posterior midgut. However, the pH optimum of the total proteolytic activity of the gut extract from either insect was pH 4....

Leishmaniasis is a debilitating disease of the tropics, subtropics and southern Europe caused by Leishmania parasites that are transmitted during blood feeding phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae). Using non-invasive micro-computed tomography, we were able to visualize impact laboratory model infection Lutzomyia longipalpis with mexicana its response second meal. For first time show i...

Although much is known about injury-induced signals that increase rates of Drosophila melanogaster midgut intestinal stem cell (ISC) proliferation, it is largely unknown how ISC activity returns to quiescence after injury. In this paper, we show that the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling pathway has dual functions during midgut homeostasis. Constitutive BMP signaling pathway activation...

The mosquito midgut microbiota has been shown to influence vector competence for multiple human pathogens. The microbiota is highly variable in the field, and the sources of this variability are not well understood, which limits our ability to understand or predict its effects on pathogen transmission. In this work, we report significant variation in female adult midgut bacterial load between s...

1. Carbonic anhydrase was measured in tissues of silkmoths, Hyalophora cecropia, reared on either a wheatgerm-based synthetic diet or wild cherry foliage in feeding fifth-instar larvae, throughout the larval-pupal transformation and in newly ecdysed pupae. 2. Carbonic anhydrase activity was present in fat body, midgut and intgeumentary epithelial cells, but not in haemolymph, cuticle or the int...

The primary pathogens related to shellfish-borne gastroenteritis outbreaks are noroviruses. These viruses show persistence in oysters, which suggests an active mechanism of virus concentration. We investigated whether Norwalk virus or viruslike particles bind specifically to oyster tissues after bioaccumulation or addition to tissue sections. Since noroviruses attach to carbohydrates of the his...