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Synthesis, storage and utilization of yolk proteins in Lymantria dispar
Abstract
Egg maturation in insects depends on the uptake of extraovarian proteins, mainly vitellogenin, the hemolymph precursor of vitellin. Vitellin has been shown to be the most abundant protein component of insect eggs, comprising up to 90% of total soluble proteins. It is generally believed that vitellin is essential for egg development. However, a more complex system has been described for several insects. Studies where vitellogenin-deficient Bombyx mori eggs matured in male hosts and proceeded with embryonic and post-embryonic development (Yamashita and Irie, 1980), provide the best example of the complexity that exists in some insect eggs and questions the extent to which vitellin supports egg vital functions. The complex egg composition found in several insect species, is thus worth studying as a possible insect strategy evolved to maximize species fitness. In the lepidopteran, Lymantria dispar, observed behavioral and developmental characteristics of the newly hatched larvae may be correlated with egg quality. The first eggs deposited are larger than eggs subsequently produced, resulting in unequal partitioning of resources. Two major serum and yolk storage proteins (vitellogenin and vitellin), a glycine rich protein of pupal fat body origin, and an egg specific protein, have been isolated and partially characterized in this study. Monospecific polyclonal antibodies to these proteins, in addition to two other major serum proteins (arylphorin and lipophorin) characterized in previous studies, were developed to aid in the determination of protein dynamics during development. The distribution pattern of the major yolk proteins in oocytes along ovarioles of newly emerged females shows a differential contribution towards the egg's composition. In addition, studies of egg samples gathered at different times during development revealed a differential utilization of resources. This apparent diversification and selective utilization of yolk resources might be directly related to the behavioral characteristics of the newly emerged larvae and possibly essential to a species survival as a population in a diverse and changing environment.
Subject Area
Entomology|Molecular biology|Biochemistry
Recommended Citation
Dompenciel, Raquel Eileen, "Synthesis, storage and utilization of yolk proteins in Lymantria dispar" (1993). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9329593.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9329593