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Developmental and sex-specific differences in expression of neuropeptides derived from allatotropin gene in the silkmoth Bombyx mori

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Abstract

Allatotropin (AT) and related neuropeptides are widespread bioactive molecules that regulate development, food intake and muscle contractions in insects and other invertebrates. In moths, alternative splicing of the at gene generates three mRNA precursors encoding AT with different combinations of three structurally similar AT-like peptides (ATLI-III). We used in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry to map the differential expression of these transcripts during the postembryonic development of Bombyx mori. Transcript encoding AT alone was expressed in numerous neurons of the central nervous system and frontal ganglion, whereas transcripts encoding AT with ATLs were produced by smaller specific subgroups of neurons in larval stages. Metamorphosis was associated with considerable developmental changes and sex-specific differences in the expression of all transcripts. The most notable was the appearance of AT/ATL transcripts (1) in the brain lateral neurosecretory cells producing prothoracicotropic hormone; (2) in the male-specific cluster of about 20 neurons in the posterior region of the terminal abdominal ganglion; (3) in the female-specific medial neurons in the abdominal ganglia AG2-7. Immunohistochemical staining showed that these neurons produced a mixture of various neuropeptides and innervated diverse peripheral organs. Our data suggest that AT/ATL neuropeptides are involved in multiple stage- and sex-specific functions during the development of B. mori.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Slovak granting agencies, Agentúra na podporu výskumu a vývoja (APVV-0827-11 and APVV-14-0556) and Vedecká grantová agentúra (VEGA 2/0121/13). We are grateful to C.J.P. Grimelikhuijzen, A. Mizoguchi and Y. Tanaka for providing valuable antisera. We thank M. Siebenstichová for the immunization of mice with AST-A antigen.

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  1. Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 845 06, Bratislava, Slovakia

    Branislav Bednár, Ladislav Roller, Daniel Čižmár, Diana Mitrová & Dušan Žitňan

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  1. Branislav Bednár
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  2. Ladislav Roller
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Correspondence to Dušan Žitňan.

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Bednár, B., Roller, L., Čižmár, D. et al. Developmental and sex-specific differences in expression of neuropeptides derived from allatotropin gene in the silkmoth Bombyx mori . Cell Tissue Res 368, 259–275 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-016-2556-x

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