Peptidies related to the Diploptera punctata allatostatins in nonarthropod invertebrates: An immunocytochemical survey

Abstract

The allatostatins are a family of peptides isolated originally from the cockroach, Diploptera punctata. Related peptides have been identified in Periplaneta americana and the blowfly, Calliphora vomitoria. These peptides have been shown to be potent inhibitors of juvenile hormone synthesis in these species. A peptide inhibitor of juvenile hormone biosynthesis has also been isolated from the moth, Manduca sexta; however, this peptide has no structural homology with the D. punctata-type allatostatins. Investigations of the phylogeny of the D. punctata allatostatin peptide family have been started by examining a number of nonarthropod invertebrates for the presence of allatostatin-like molecules using immunocytochemistry with antisera directed against the conserved C-terminal region of this family. Allatostatin-like immunoreactivity (ALIR) was demonstrated in the nervous systems of Hydra oligactis (Hydrozoa), Moniezia expansa (Cestoda), Schistosoma mansoni (Trematoda), Artioposthia triangulata (Turbellaria), Ascaris suum (Nematoda), Lumbricus terrestris (Oligochaeta), Limax pseudoflavus (Gastropoda), and Eledone cirrhosa (Cephalopoda). ALIR could not be demonstrated in Ciona intestinalis (Ascidiacea). These results suggest that molecules related to the allatostatins may play an important role in nervous system function in many invertebrates as well as in insects and that they also have an ancient evolutionary lineage.

Dynamic transcriptomes identify biogenic amines and insect-like hormonal regulation for mediating reproduction in Schistosoma japonicum

“…5b). Interestingly, SjAlstR is also an intestinal receptor in insects3839, and its ligand, allatostatin, has been reported in S. mansoni 40. In insects, allatostatin, mediated by AlstR, inhibits the generation of JH, an acyclic sesquiterpenoid that controls insect development and reproduction through its interaction with the molting hormone ecdysone41.…”

Allatostatin-like immunoreactivity in the abdomen of the locust Schistocerca gregaria

“…In insects, ASTs have been isolated in numerous species, in particular in cockroaches, crickets, locusts, flies and moths (Woodhead et al 1989;Pratt et al 1991;Lorenz et al 1995;Duve et al 1996Duve et al , 1997Veelaert et al 1996a,b;Nathoo et al 2001). Subsequently, AST-like peptides have also been isolated from other insect species and other invertebrate groups, such as worms, molluscs and crustaceans (Duve et al 1997;Smart et al 1995;Rudolph and Stay 1997;Dircksen et al 1999). In insects, DNA encoding precursors of the AST family has been cloned and sequenced (Donly et al 1993;Ding et al 1995;Vanden Broeck et al 1996;Belles et al 1999;Meyering-Vos et al 2001;Abdel-Llatief et al 2004).…”

A Family of Neuropeptides That Inhibit Juvenile Hormone Biosynthesis in the Cricket, Gryllus bimaculatus

“…It even remains to be determined whether allatostatins are the principal regulators of JH biosynthesis in vivo. The immunocytochemical localization of Tyr-Xaa-Phe-Gly-Leu-NH 2 allatostatin-like peptides in the central nervous system as well as in midgut cells of many invertebrates (8,27) suggests that allatostatins are multifunctional neuropeptides, even though inhibition of JH biosynthesis by CA in vitro was the only bioassay utilized in their isolation. Sequence homology, as found between Lom-MIP and the family of allatostatic neuropeptides presented in this paper, may indicate a myomodulatory role of these peptides, as was also discussed for the Tyr-Xaa-Phe-Gly-Leu-NH 2 allatostatin family (28,29).…”