To further study the role of GPR54 signaling in the onset of primate puberty, we used the monkey to examine the ability of kisspeptin-10 to elicit the release of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) precociously, and we describe the expression of GPR54 and KiSS-1 in the hypothalamus during the peripubertal period. Agonadal juvenile male monkeys were implanted with a lateral cerebroventricular ...

Background: Hormones regulate the expression of multiple phenotypic traits. Therefore, divergence in hormone concentrations may lead to evolutionary changes in the coordinated physiological and behavioural traits that comprise an organism’s integrated phenotype. Adults of marine ecotypes of threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) have higher concentrations of the thyroid hormone thyroxi...

We used RNA interference (RNAi) to silence the expression of a gene encoding Bla g 1, a human allergen produced by the German cockroach, Blattella germanica L., to study its function in cockroach physiology. Females injected with 1 microg of double-stranded RNA contained 64% less Bla g 1 protein and Bla g 1 mRNA abundance was reduced by 91.4% compared to sham-injected females. Bla g 1 knockdown...

The heterodimer thyrostimulin, comprised of two novel glycoprotein hormone subunits GPA2 and GPB5, activates the TSH receptor. To understand its role in the regulation of the hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid (HPT-) axis, we evaluated juvenile and adult GPB5 knock-out (GPB5(-/-)) and wild type mice (WT) during euthyroidism, hypothyroidism and thyrotoxicosis. Surprisingly, juvenile euthyroid GPB5(-...

s are listed in alphabetical order by the last name of the senior author Characterization of a novel peptide with allatotropic activity in the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda M. Abdel-latief, M. Meyering-Vos and K.H. Hoffmann Department of Animal Ecology I, University of Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany [email protected] The biosynthesis of juvenile hormone (JH) by the corpor...

In most insect species, juvenile hormones regulate critical physiological processes such as metamorphosis and reproduction. In insects, these sesquiterpenoids are synthesized by retrocerebral endocrine organs, the corpora allata, via the classical mevalonate (MVA) pathway. One of these compounds, juvenile hormone III (JH III), has also been identified in the sedge Cyperus iria. In higher plants...

Juvenile hormone esterase (JHE) plays an essential role in insect development. It is partially responsible for the clearance of juvenile hormone (JH) which regulates various aspects of insect development and reproduction. Because of its role in regulating JH titer, this enzyme has been targeted for development of biologically-based insecticides. JHE was partially purified from the beetle, Teneb...

The two synthetic farnesol derivatives, farnesyl methyl ether and the dihydrochloride of ethylfarnesoate were found to be morphogenetically effective in a distinguishable manner in the last larval instar of Cerura vinula L. by topical application assays. The juvenile hormone-like activity of the two substances correlates with the amount of applied substances and a critical time interval to the ...

The Drosophila melanogaster gene insulin-like receptor (InR) is homologous to mammalian insulin receptors as well as to Caenorhabditis elegans daf-2, a signal transducer regulating worm dauer formation and adult longevity. We describe a heteroallelic, hypomorphic genotype of mutant InR, which yields dwarf females with up to an 85% extension of adult longevity and dwarf males with reduced late a...