title: Nutrition regulation of male accessory gland growth and maturation in Tribolium castaneum.
abstract: Insulin/IGF-1 signaling (IIS) pathway is known to control growth, development and reproduction. Insulin-like peptide mediated body size plasticity in Drosophila melanogaster has been reported. Here, our studies showed that IIS pathway and nutrition regulate growth and maturation of the male accessory gland (MAG) in the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum. The size of MAG increased from day 1 to day 5 post-adult emergence (PAE). This increase in the size of MAG is contributed by an increase in cell size, but not cell number. The growth of MAG was impaired after double-stranded RNA (dsRNA)-mediated knockdown in the expression of genes coding for ILP3, InR, Chico, PI3k, AKT, and GATA1 involved in IIS pathway. Interestingly, starvation showed similar effects on the growth and maturation of MAG. The phenotypes observed in animals where IIS signaling pathway genes were knocked down are similar to the phenotypes observed after starving beetles for 5 days PAE. These data suggest that nutrition signals working through IIS pathway regulate maturation of MAG by promoting the growth of MAG cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, college of Agriculture, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40546, USA.
authors.forename: Jingjing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, college of Agriculture, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40546, USA.
authors.forename: Ashlee L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Anciro
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, college of Agriculture, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40546, USA.
authors.forename: Subba Reddy
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Palli
mesh_terms: D000824:Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D000818:Animals; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000378:metabolism; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000378:metabolism; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / Q000378:metabolism; D012098:Reproduction; D012741:Sexual Maturation; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014231:Tribolium / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D007328:Insulin; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt