Thermotolerance and HSP70 expression in the Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata.

The relationship between Hsp70 expression and thermotolerance has been well documented in Drosophila melanogaster. However, there is limited information on this relationship in other insect species. In this report we describe the Hsp70-thermotolerance relationship in one of the major fruit fly pests, Ceratitis capitata (medfly).

cDNA cloning, characterization, and developmental expression of the 20S proteasome alpha5 subunit in the Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata.

In the present study, we report the cDNA cloning, characterization, and developmental expression of the 20S proteasome alpha5 subunit from the Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata (medfly). Using an RT-PCR fragment that corresponds to the amino-terminal region of the Drosophila melanogaster 20S proteasome alpha5 subunit, we isolated a 987-bp cDNA that encodes the complete coding region of the medfly ortholog, which was named CcPSMA5. CcPSMA5 consists of 241 amino acids and has a predicted molecular weight of 26.

Evaluation of the activities of the medfly and Drosophila hsp70 promoters in vivo in germ-line transformed medflies.

The promoter of the hsp70 gene of Drosophila melanogaster has been widely used for the expression of foreign genes in other insects. It has been generally assumed that because this gene is highly conserved, its promoter will function efficiently in other species. We report the results of a quantitative comparison of the activities of the medfly and D.

Medfly promoters relevant to the sterile insect technique.

This review summarizes structural and functional studies on medfly promoters and regulatory elements that can be used for driving sex-specific, conditional and constitutive gene expression in this species. Sex-specific and conditional promoters are important for generating transgenic sexing strains that could increase the performance of the Sterile Insect Technique while strong constitutive promoters are necessary for developing sensitive transgenic marker systems. The review focuses on the functional analysis of the promoters of two male-specific and heat shock medfly genes.