Insects are often regarded as the most successful group of animals in the terrestrial environment. Their success can be represented by their huge biomass and large impact on ecosystems. Among the factors suggested to be responsible for their success, we focus on the possibility that the cuticle might have affected the process of insects' evolution. The cuticle of insects, like that of other arthropods, is composed mainly of chitin and structural cuticle proteins. However, insects seem to have evolved a specific system for cuticle formation. Oxidation reaction of catecholamines catalyzed by a copper enzyme, laccase, is the key step in the metabolic pathway for hardening of the insect cuticle. Molecular phylogenetic analysis indicates that laccase functioning in cuticle sclerotization has evolved only in insects. In this review, we discuss a theory on how the insect-specific "laccase" function has been advantageous for establishing their current ecological position as terrestrial animals.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ibmb.2019.03.007 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Developmental Proteomics Reveals the Dynamic Expression Profile of Global Proteins of (Parthenogenesis).
Life (Basel)
January 2025
State Key Laboratory Animal Disease Control and Prevention, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Lanzhou 730046, China.
is used as an experimental animal model for the study of three-host ticks due to its special life cycle and easy maintenance in the laboratory and in its reproduction. The life cycle of goes through a tightly regulated life cycle to adapt to the changing host and environment, and these stages of transition are also accompanied by proteome changes in the body. Here, we used the isobaric tags for a relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ) technique to systematically describe and analyze the dynamic expression of the protein and the molecular basis of the proteome of in seven differential developmental stages (eggs, unfed larvae, engorged larvae, unfed nymphs, engorged nymphs unfed adults, and engorged adults).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn vitro evaluation of anthelmintic activity of biocompatibile carbon quantum dot nanocomposite against egg and larval stages of equine strongyles.
BMC Vet Res
January 2025
Materials Synthesis Laboratory, Carbon Tech Industrial Group, Carbon Tech, Tehran, Iran.
Background: Strongyle nematodes pose a major challenge in veterinary parasitology, causing significant economic losses in livestock due to resistance to conventional treatments. Current anthelmintics, like Ivermectin, often encounter resistance issues. This study aims to address these gaps by synthesizing Carbon Quantum Dots (CQDs) and Copper-Doped CQDs (Cu@CQDs) using glucose extract, and evaluating their nematicidal properties against strongyles in vitro.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNKD2 as a Mediator of IFIX Antioncogene-Induced Wnt Signalling and Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Human OSCC.
J Cell Mol Med
January 2025
Department of Ophthalmology, the Fourth Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Yiwu, P. R. China.
The activation of the human interferon-inducible protein X (IFIX) isoform is associated with maintaining a stable cytoskeleton and inhibiting epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). However, the mechanisms and pathways underlying IFIX-mediated oncogenesis are not well understood. In this study, we investigated the effects of IFIX overexpression and knockdown in CAL-27 and SCC-25 oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLight enhances the production of conidia and influences their hydrophobicity in Tolypocladium inflatum.
Fungal Biol
February 2025
Fungal Stress Laboratory, Universidade Tecnológica Federal Do Paraná, Dois Vizinhos, PR, 85660-000, Brazil. Electronic address:
Insect fungal pathogens such as Beauveria bassiana, Metarhizium robertsii, and Tolypocladium inflatum have been used as insect biocontrol agents. Their infection mechanism involves non-specific adhesion to the host cuticle, which is controlled by hydrophobins, small proteins that form an amphipathic monolayer with rodlet morphology on diverse fungal structures. Light is an abiotic factor that may influence a wide range of cellular processes, including conidiogenesis, stress tolerance, and metabolite biosynthesis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNaturally russeted and wound russeted skins of mango (cv. 'Apple') show no differences in anatomy, chemical composition or gene expression.
Sci Rep
January 2025
Institute of Horticultural Production Systems, Fruit Science Section, Leibniz University Hannover, Herrenhäuser Straße 2, 30419, Hannover, Germany.
The mango cultivar 'Apple' is commercially important in Kenya but highly susceptible to russeting. Russeting refers to an area of fruit skin where the primary (epidermal) surface has been replaced by a secondary (peridermal) surface. The objective was to establish histologies, gene expressions and chemical compositions of a natural periderm, a wound-induced periderm and of cuticles of an un-russeted skin.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!