In insects the enzyme phenoloxidase (PO) catalyzes melanin deposition at the wound site and around parasitoid eggs. Its proenzyme prophenoloxidase (proPO) is proteolytically cleaved to active phenoloxidase by a cascade consisting of serine proteases and inhibited by serpins. The Drosophila genome encodes 29 serpins, of which only two, Serpin-27A (Spn27A) and Necrotic, have been analyzed in deta...

Phenoloxidase (PO) is a major component of the insect immune system. The enzyme is involved in encapsulation and melanization processes as well as wound healing and cuticle sclerotization. PO is present as an inactive proenzyme, prophenoloxidase (PPO), which is activated via a protease cascade. In this study, we have cloned a full-length PPO1 cDNA and a partial PPO2 cDNA from the Indianmeal mot...

Honey bees (Apis mellifera) are of vital economic and ecological importance. These eusocial animals display temporal polyethism, which is an age-driven division of labor. Younger adult bees remain in the hive and tend to developing brood, while older adult bees forage for pollen and nectar to feed the colony. As honey bees mature, the types of pathogens they experience also change. As such, pat...

The QM, firstly identified as a putative tumor suppressor gene from human, has been confirmed to possess varieties of functions in a range of organisms. In the present study, the cDNA that encodes a 220-amino-acid QM protein with calculated molecular mass of 25.5 kDa and isoelectric point of 10.07 was characterized from the Pacific white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei. Analysis of the deduced amin...

Organisms are expected to invest more in their immune function when the risk of disease infection is high. However, induction a robust response costly and may not be achievable suboptimal environments. High conspecific density could simultaneously imply high environment for many insect species. We focus on economically important dipteran species (black soldier fly, BSF) that represents order ha...

Nutrients can greatly affect host immune defenses against infection. Possessing a simple system, insects have been widely used as models to address the relationships between nutrition and immunity. The effects of high versus low protein-to-carbohydrate ratio (P:C) diets on insect responses vary in different studies. To reveal dietary manipulation polyphagous agricultural pest oriental armyworm,...

The effects of pyriproxyfen were determined on the cellular immunity and phenoloxidase activity in the 4th instar larvae of Chilo suppressalis Walker. The bioassay results revealed the effective concentrations of: 10L : 18C, 30L : 72C and 50L : 190C μg · ml–1. The sole effect of 18 and 72 μg · ml–1 concentrations at intervals of 1–3 h caused a higher number of total hemocytes in the treated lar...

Crustaceans affected by shell disease syndrome display characteristic black-spot lesions in regions of exoskeletal degradation. Vogan et al. [Dis. Aquat. Org. (2001)] have shown that the severity of shell disease in the edible crab, Cancer pagurus, correlates with an increase in haemocoelic bacterial infections and may therefore serve as an external marker for the internal health of the animal....