Verification of insect metamorphosis master cells by single cell endocrinology approach

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K14895
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Insect science
• Research Institution: Kanazawa University
• Principal Investigator: Iwami Masafumi 金沢大学, 自然システム学系, 教授 (40193768)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 木矢 剛智 金沢大学, 自然システム学系, 准教授 (90532309)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: カイコガ / 発生・分化 / 脱皮・変態 / ホルモン / 神経科学 / 遺伝子 / 神経分泌

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In the postembryonic development of insects, ecdysis is an important event for the animals to increase their body size. Timing of ecdysis is thus tightly controlled by the molting hormone ecdysone synthesized in the prothoracic glands, whose activity is regulated by prothoracicotropic hormone (PTTH) neurons in the brain. In the present study, we investigated neural activity pattern of PTTH neurons during development by G-GaCMP6f-mediated Ca imaging and revealed their physiological function. We also established silkmoth strains that can artificially manipulate level of neural activity by chemogenetic or optogenetic approaches. Furthermore, we established a PTTH-gene-knockout line and analyzed importance of PTTH on insect development.

Free Research Field

分子生物学・昆虫科学