title: Malpighian Tubule Cells in Overwintering Cave Crickets Troglophilus cavicola (Kollar, 1833) and T. neglectus Krauss, 1879 (Rhaphidophoridae, Ensifera).
abstract: During winter, cave cricket larvae undergo dormancy in subterranean habitats; this dormancy is termed diapause in second year Troglophilus cavicola larvae because they mature during this time, and termed quiescence in T. neglectus, because they mature after dormancy. Here we used electron microscopy to analyze ultrastructural changes in the epithelial cells in the Malpighian tubules (MTs) of T. cavicola during diapause, in order to compare them with previous findings on T. neglectus. Moreover, the autophagosomes were studied with immunofluorescence microscopy in both species. Although the basic ultrastructure of the cells was similar, specific differences appeared during overwintering. During this natural starvation period, the nucleus, rER, the Golgi apparatus and mitochondria did not show structural changes, and the spherites were exploited. The abundances of autophagic structures in both species increased during overwintering. At the beginning of overwintering, in both species and sexes, the rates of cells with autophagic structures (phagophores, autophagosomes, autolysosomes and residual bodies) were low, while their rates increased gradually towards the end of overwintering. Between sexes, in T. cavicola significant differences were found in the autophagosome abundances in the middle and at the end, and in T. neglectus at the end of overwintering. Females showed higher rates of autophagic cells than males, and these were more abundant in T. cavicola. Thus, autophagic processes in the MT epithelial cells induced by starvation are mostly parallel in diapausing T. cavicola and quiescent T. neglectus, but more intensive in diapausing females.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia.|Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia.|Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Saška
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lipovšek
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Tone
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Novak
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Franc
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Janžekovič
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Nina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Weiland
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cell Biology, Histology and Embryology, Research Unit Electron Microscopic Techniques, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Gerd
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5281-9830
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Leitinger
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000071182:Autophagosomes / Q000648:ultrastructure; D001343:Autophagy / Q000502:physiology; D059552:Caves; D064666:Diapause, Insect / Q000502:physiology; D017753:Ecosystem; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005260:Female; D006135:Gryllidae / Q000145:classification / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008317:Malpighian Tubules / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D012621:Seasons; D013045:Species Specificity