Involvement of -Acting Elements in Molecular Regulation of JH-Mediated Vitellogenin Gene 2 of Female .

Vitellogenins (Vgs) are yolk protein precursors that are regulated by juvenile hormone (JH) and/or 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) in insects. JH acts as the principal gonadotropin that stimulates vitellogenesis in hemimetabolous insects. In this study, we cloned and characterized the () promoter.

Clock-controlled arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase (aaNAT) regulates circadian rhythms of locomotor activity in the American cockroach, Periplaneta americana, via melatonin/MT2-like receptor.

Melatonin (MEL) orchestrates daily and seasonal rhythms (eg, locomotion, sleep/wake cycles, and migration among other rhythms) in diverse organisms. We investigated the effects of pharmacological doses (0.03-1 mM) of exogenous MEL intake in the cockroach, Periplaneta americana, on locomotor activity.

Crosstalk among Indoleamines, Neuropeptides and JH/20E in Regulation of Reproduction in the American Cockroach, .

Although the regulation of vitellogenesis in insects has been mainly discussed in terms of 'classical' lipid hormones, juvenile hormone (JH), and 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E), recent data support the notion that this process must be adjusted in harmony with a nutritional input/reservoir and involvement of certain indoleamines and neuropeptides in regulation of such process. This study focuses on crosstalks among these axes, lipid hormones, monoamines, and neuropeptides in regulation of vitellogenesis in the American cockroach with novel aspects in the roles of arylalkylamine -acetyltransferase (aaNAT), a key enzyme in indoleamine metabolism, and the enteroendocrine peptides; crustacean cardioactive peptide (CCAP) and short neuropeptide F (sNPF). Double-stranded RNA against (dsRNA) was injected into designated-aged females and the effects were monitored including the expressions of itself, vitellogenin 1 and 2 ( and ) and the vitellogenin receptor () mRNAs, oocyte maturation and changes in the hemolymph peptide concentrations.

A putative direct repeat element plays a dual role in the induction and repression of insect vitellogenin-1 gene expression.

Juvenile hormones (JH) regulate wide-ranging physiological and developmental processes in insects. However, molecular mechanisms underlying JH signaling remain to be determined. Vitellogenin (Vg) is primarily an egg-yolk protein, but recently proposed to serve many functions in insects.

Molecular cloning, characterization, and expression pattern of the ultraspiracle gene homolog (RXR/USP) from the hemimetabolous insect Periplaneta americana (Dictyoptera, Blattidae) during vitellogenesis.

Ecdysteroid and sequiterpenoids juvenile hormones play a gonadotrophic role in the insect adult female vitellogenesis. The molecular basis of hormone action has been analyzed in great detail in flies and moths, but rarely in primitive insect orders. The primitive hemimetabolous insect Periplaneta americana was used, as a model, to isolate and characterize, for the first time, two cDNAs of RXR/USP, a component of the heterodimeric ecdysone receptor.

Evidence for two vitellogenin-related genes in Leucophaea maderae: the protein primary structure and its processing.

We previously reported a cDNA for vitellogenin (Vg) from the cockroach, Leucophaea maderae (Lm). In the present study, we identified another cDNA encoding a second Vg (Vg2) having stretches of amino acid sequences different from the first one, Vg1, reported earlier. The complete nucleotide sequence of Vg2 consisted of 5,915 bp, which encoded a primary protein of 1,911 residues including a 16-residue putative signal peptide.