title: Parasitism-linked block of host plasma melanization.
abstract: When parasitized by the Ichneumonid parasitoid Campoletis sonorensis, larvae of the Noctuid moth, Heliothis virescens, are unable to mount an effective immune response against parasitoid eggs. Defensive melanization of plasma and cellular encapsulation of parasite eggs are dramatically inhibited by infection with the symbiotic immunosuppressive C. sonorensis ichnovirus (CsIV). This study demonstrates that the CsIV-mediated inhibition of melanization is associated with reduction in the enzymatic activity and protein titer of key enzymes in the melanization pathway, phenoloxidase, dopachrome isomerase, and DOPA decarboxylase. Inhibition of the synthesis of key melanization enzymes leads to reductions in the melanization substrates l-dihydroxyphenylalanine, N-acetyldopamine, and N-beta-alanyl dopamine from millimolar to nanomolar levels in parasitized larvae. By contrast, concentration of a precursor catecholamine, dopamine, rises fourfold in these larvae. Thus in CsIV-infected larvae, enzymatic deficiencies in the melanization pathway lead to reduced concentrations of specific enzyme substrates, causing failure of melanization in parasitized insects.
authors.affiliation: USDA, ARS, BCIRL, Research Park, Columbia, Missouri 65203, USA. shelbyk@missouri.edu
authors.forename: K S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Shelby
authors.forename: O A
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Adeyeye
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Okot-Kotber
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Webb
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001191:Arylamine N-Acetyltransferase / Q000378:metabolism; D004156:Catechol Oxidase / Q000378:metabolism; D002395:Catecholamines / Q000032:analysis; D004296:Dopa Decarboxylase / Q000378:metabolism; D004792:Enzyme Precursors / Q000378:metabolism; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D019746:Intramolecular Oxidoreductases / Q000378:metabolism; D009036:Moths / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000469:parasitology*; D014863:Wasps / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D002395:Catecholamines; D004792:Enzyme Precursors; C038451:pro-phenoloxidase; D004156:Catechol Oxidase; D001191:Arylamine N-Acetyltransferase; D004296:Dopa Decarboxylase; D019746:Intramolecular Oxidoreductases; C042501:dopachrome isomerase