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EDRI Federal Project Inventory:
Regulation of Insect Reproduction
- Sponsor Organization: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
- Project Title: REGULATION OF INSECT REPRODUCTION
- Project Focus: ECOLOGICAL EFFECTS
- Description: Insects have been widely used as model systems to study basic
mechanisms ofhormone production and action. Moreover, study of the
regulation of hormoneproduction in insects by key regulatory proteins
holds promise in the development ofbiorational pesticides. The
general objective of Dr. Rankin's proposal is to understandthe
hormonal bases of insect mating, egg development and subsequent
maternalbehavior that lead to reproductive success in an insect. This
investigation will utilizethe ring-legged earwig, Euborellia
annulipes. This insect has proven to be anexcellent, inexpensive
model system for investigating the hormonal regulation of
eggdevelopment and reproductive behavior because it exhibits precisely
timed cycles ofegg development followed by maternal behavior which are
correlated with specifichormone production. The specific goals are to
investigate: 1) regulation of juvenilehormone production by
alterations of levels two insect hormones (juvenile hormone
andecdysone), diet and mating status and by surgical removal of
ovaries; 2) whetherproteins that inhibit reproduction
(allatostatins), similar to those in cockroaches, occurin the earwig
by using existing antibody probes for determination of amounts
andsources of such proteins; and 3) whether the cockroach
allatostatins can inhibitcockroach hormone synthesis. Each of these
manipulations will be assessed for theireffects on (or correlations
with) two fundamental reproductive behaviors: mating andmaternal care.
The results are expected to increase understanding of the
physiologicalregulation of key reproductive hormones, egg development,
and behaviors thatcontribute to the reproductive process in an insect.
- References:
- Category: MODELS
- Subcategory: BASIC RESEARCH
- Keywords for Experimental System/Species: INVERTEBRATES, IN VIVO, IN VITRO, LABORATORY STUDY
- Keywords for Experimental Endpoints: NEUROLOGICAL, REPRODUCTIVE, HORMONE MEASURES, SEX STEROIDS, PEPTIDE
HORMONES,PHYSIOLOGY, BREEDING BEHAVIOR, GROWTH
- Chemical Agents: Sex Steroids
- Performing Institution: Allegheny College
- Contact: Susan M Rankin, North Main, Meadville, PA 16335 814 724-3100,
srankin@alleg.edu
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