The fat body of termites: Functions and stored materials

Costa–Leonardo, Ana Maria; Laranjo, Lara Teixeira; Janei, Vanelize; Haifig, Ives

doi:10.1016/j.jinsphys.2013.03.009

Cited by 44 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Polyploidy plays pivotal roles in the regulation of gene expression, cell size, and differentiation (Edgar et al, ; Lee et al, ; Neiman et al, ). It is possible that the fat body endoreduplication observed in this study is related to the cytological changes as described in previous studies (Costa‐Leonardo et al, ; Han & Bordereau, , ; Šobotník, Weyda, Hanus, Cvačka, & Nebesářová, ). Two types of cells are found in the termite fat body: urocytes and adipocytes.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 62%

“…Two types of cells are found in the termite fat body: urocytes and adipocytes. Urocytes are unique cells that are packed with urate spherules, while adipocytes are metabolically active cells that synthesize and store lipids, glycogen, and various proteins probably including vitellogenins (Arrese & Soulages, ; Costa‐Leonardo et al, ). The proportion of these two cell types varies among castes and developmental stages.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…takasagoensis and alates of I. schwartzi . Typically, the fat body of termites appeared as whitish loose tissue located around the digestive tube and reproductive organs (Costa‐Leonardo et al, ). With utmost care and attention to avoid contamination by other tissues such as Malpighian tubules and tracheoles, we dissected the fat body from the abdomen of insects.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evolutionary relationship of fat body endoreduplication and queen fecundity in termites

Nozaki

Matsuura

2019

Ecology and Evolution

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Endoreduplication or nuclear genome replication without cell division is widely observed in the metabolically active tissues of plants and animals. The fat body cells of adult female insects produce abundant yolk proteins and become polyploid, which is assumed to accelerate egg production. Recently, it was reported that in termites, endopolyploidy in the fat body occurs only in queens but not in the other females; however, the relationship between the fecundity and ploidy level in the fat body remains unclear. Termite queens exhibit a huge variation in their egg‐producing capacity among different species; queens in the species with a foraging lifestyle, in which workers leave the nest to forage outside, are much more fecund than those in the species living in a single piece of wood. In this study, we conducted ploidy analyses on three foragings and three wood‐dwelling termites via flow cytometry. In all the species, the fat body of queens contained significantly more polyploid cells than that of other nonreproductive females, considering their body size effect. However, the male fat body, which is not involved in yolk production, did not show consistency in polyploid cell numbers among the species studied. Moreover, highly fecund queens in foraging termites exhibit higher levels of endopolyploidy in their fat body than those with less fecundity in wood‐dwelling termites. These results suggest that endopolyploidy in the fat body of termite queens can boost their egg production, and the level of endopolyploidy in their fat body is linked to their fecundity. Our study provides a novel insight into the evolutionary relationship between endoreduplication and caste specialization in social insects.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 62%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evolutionary relationship of fat body endoreduplication and queen fecundity in termites

Nozaki

Matsuura

2019

Ecology and Evolution

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“…The fat body, which is composed of loosely associated cells that are rich in lipids and glycogen, lines the integument of the hemocoel (Costa-Leonardo et al, 2013; Larsen, 1976; Martins et al, 2011). Besides functioning in energy storage and the synthesis of the vitellogenin precursors required for the production of eggs, the fat body produces and secretes antimicrobial peptides with lytic activity as well as additional components of the humoral immune response (Aggarwal and Silverman, 2008; Hillyer, 2010; Wang et al, 2014a).…”

Section: Anatomy Of the Insect Immune Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Insect immunology and hematopoiesis

Hillyer

2016

Developmental & Comparative Immunology

391

363

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Insects combat infection by mounting powerful immune responses that are mediated by hemocytes, the fat body, the midgut, the salivary glands and other tissues. Foreign organisms that have entered the body of an insect are recognized by the immune system when pathogen-associated molecular patterns bind host-derived pattern recognition receptors. This, in turn, activates immune signaling pathways that amplify the immune response, induce the production of factors with antimicrobial activity, and activate effector pathways. Among the immune signaling pathways are the Toll, Imd, Jak/Stat, JNK, and insulin pathways. Activation of these and other pathways leads to pathogen killing via phagocytosis, melanization, cellular encapsulation, nodulation, lysis, RNAi-mediated virus destruction, autophagy and apoptosis. This review details these and other aspects of immunity in insects, and discusses how the immune and circulatory systems have co-adapted to combat infection, how hemocyte replication and differentiation takes place (hematopoiesis), how an infection prepares an insect for a subsequent infection (immune priming), how environmental factors such as temperature and the age of the insect impact the immune response, and how social immunity protects entire groups. Finally, this review highlights some underexplored areas in the field of insect immunobiology.

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“…For example, similar urate spherocrystals were reported in the fat bodies of the termite (Heterotermes tenuis) workers (Costa-Leonardo et al, 2013). Immobilization of metals in the form of vesicles (spherites) is also observed in several arthropods, and is considered as a wide-spread detoxification strategy (Lipovsek et al, 2002;Delakorda et al, 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 64%

Transcriptional response of two metallothionein genes (OcMT1 and OcMT2) and histological changes in Oxya chinensis (Orthoptera: Acridoidea) exposed to three trace metals

Liu

et al. 2015

Chemosphere

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The fat body of termites: Functions and stored materials

Cited by 44 publications

References 25 publications

Evolutionary relationship of fat body endoreduplication and queen fecundity in termites

Evolutionary relationship of fat body endoreduplication and queen fecundity in termites

Insect immunology and hematopoiesis

Transcriptional response of two metallothionein genes (OcMT1 and OcMT2) and histological changes in Oxya chinensis (Orthoptera: Acridoidea) exposed to three trace metals

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