title: The multi-tasking gut epithelium of insects.
abstract: The insect gut epithelium plays a vital role in multiple processes, including nutrition, immunity and osmoregulation. Recent research is revealing the molecular and biochemical basis of these functions. For example, the pattern of nutrient acquisition by the gut epithelium is integrated into the overall regulation of nutrient allocation, as illustrated by evidence for systemic controls over expression of key genes coding digestive enzymes and transporters in carbohydrate acquisition; and the abundance and diversity of microorganisms in the gut lumen is regulated by multiple molecular properties of the gut epithelial cells, including the synthesis of enzymes that produce reactive oxygen species and anti-microbial peptides. These traits are underpinned by the function of the gut epithelium as a selective barrier which mediates the controlled movement of water, ions, metabolites and macromolecules between the gut lumen and insect tissues. Breakdown of the gut epithelial barrier has been implicated in muscle paralysis of insects at low temperatures (chill coma) and in aging. The key challenge for future research is to understand how the multiple functions of the insect gut epithelium are integrated by signaling interactions among epithelial cells, the gut microbiota and other insect organs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA. Electronic address: jh735@cornell.edu.
authors.forename: Jia-Hsin
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA. Electronic address: xj43@cornell.edu.
authors.forename: Xiangfeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Jing
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA; Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA. Electronic address: aes326@cornell.edu.
authors.forename: Angela E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Douglas
mesh_terms: D000824:Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D000818:Animals; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology; D007313:Insecta / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000382:microbiology; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology; D064307:Microbiota; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species
keywords: Epithelium; Gut; Immunity; Microbiota; Nutrient assimilation; Stem cell