Studies on Proteolytic Digestion in Adult Aedes Aegypti Mosquitoes1

The Mechanism of Food Distribution to Midgut or Diverticula in the Mosquito

“…Similar experiments performed by Fisk (1950) did not permit conclusions to bB drawn from them, but Bishop and Gilchrist (1946) found that plasma, washed erythrocytes, and haemolysed blood when ingested went to the midgut and not to the diverticulum. These data and the results presented in Table 2 suggest that both plasma and erythrocytes are detected but the reaction to plasma is less marked than that to washed erythrocytes.…”

“…The establishment of these facts does not answer the question of how various liquids reach the respective regions of the gut and, in fact, no comprehensive suggestion has been advanced that does provide an explanation of what Fisk (1950) has called the "switching mechanism." Boissezon's (1930) suggestion that the diameter of the ducts to the diverticula was not great enough to permit the passage of erythrocytes does not account for all of the observations, and Marshall and Staley's ( 1932) conclusions concerning the action of sphincters at the openings of the diverticula offer no indication of how these sphincters are activated.…”

“…Boissezon's (1930) suggestion that the diameter of the ducts to the diverticula was not great enough to permit the passage of erythrocytes does not account for all of the observations, and Marshall and Staley's ( 1932) conclusions concerning the action of sphincters at the openings of the diverticula offer no indication of how these sphincters are activated. Fisk (1950) performed some experiments to determine what properties of blood enabled it to reach the midgut, but stated that his results did not solve the problem. Consideration of the conclusions of Trembley referred to above and of the anatomical relationships of the gut of the Diptera suggested that sense organs located in or near the buccal cavity may be stimulated by components of the food, resulting in the transmission of motor impulses to the sphincters of the diverticula or the proventriculus, or both.…”

Gene expression patterns associated with blood-feeding in the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae

“…During the first several hours following a blood meal, the mosquito undergoes physiological changes in addition to hormonal ones. Acquisition of a blood meal stimulates midgut proteolytic activity such that approximately 80% of the protein content is digested within one day [10-14]. Serine proteases including trypsins and chymotrypsins are responsible for the majority of endoproteolytic activity [11,12,15].…”

Expression profile of water-soluble proteinases during ontogenesis of Megachile rotundata: an electrophoretic investigation

“…As a consequence, a wide range of investigations have been focused on the characterisation and identification of different target proteinases in a variety of insect orders: Lepidoptera, such as Agrotis (Purcell et al, 1992), Cydia (Christeller et al, 1992), Spodoptera (Lee and Anstee, 1995), Lymantria (Valaitis, 1995), Heliothis (Johnston et al, 1995), Ostrinia (Bernardi et al, 1996), Bombyx (Nobuyasu and Yamashita, 1997), Sesamia (Novillo et al, 1999), Pieris (Broadway, 1995); in Coleoptera, such as Adalia (Murdock et al, 1987;Walker et al, 1998), Tenebrio (Dadd, 1956;Jang et al, 1998) and Tribolium (BlancoLabra et al, 1996); in Diptera, such as Aedes (Fisk, 1950) and Aenopheles (Berner et al, 1983;Vizioli et al, 2001); in Hemiptera, such as Dysdercus (Khan and Ford, 1962); and in Orthoptera, such as Locusta (Khan, 1963). The potential damage of protein-inhibitors on the digestive proteinases of beneficial insects has received less attention.…”