English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Global: Zendy Plus annual

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Global: Zendy Tools annual

Global: Zendy Free Plan

Global: Zendy Tools monthly

Global: Zendy Plus monthly

The growth and development of insects are regulated by hormones including peptide hormones, the molting hormone ecdysone and the juvenile hormone (JH). When insects reach the appropriate size known as the critical weight, prothoracicotropic hormone (PTTH) is released from the brain and stimulates the secretion of ecdysone from the prothoracic gland, which triggers molting. The mechanism that controls PTTH secretion differs among insect species. In hemipteran insects such as the blood sucking bug Rhodnius prolixus and the milkweed bug Oncopeltus fasciatus, the stretching of the abdomen after taking of a meal is apparently the signal for PTTH secretion and the subsequent molting. Recent studies in the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster showed that the prothoracic gland itself is the size-assessing tissue by using insulin-dependent cell growth to determine when the critical weight for metamorphosis has been reached. The biological and physiological aspects of JH have been studied in detail since its discovery by Wigglesworth. In the holometabolous tobacco hornworm Manduca sexta, for example, final instar larvae can start metamorphosis only in the absence of JH during a critical period. If the JH in the hemolymph is eliminated at an earlier stage by experimentally removing the corpora allata, the endocrine organ that secretes JH into the hemolymph, these larvae start precocious metamorphosis. Thus JH is considered to have status quo action in insect metamorphosis by controlling ecdysone-induced molts. A recent study disclosed a new aspect of JH action in metamorphosis; experimental removal of corpora allata in starved Manduca last instar larvae allows the formation of imaginal discs, even during severe starvation, suggesting that JH acting by itself can suppress disc morphogenesis and growth. In addition to its role in molting and metamorphosis, JH is also involved in reproduction, both larval and adult diapause, and caste determination in social insects. Since JH signaling is specific to insects and other arthropods and does not exist in vertebrates, it should be an ideal target for pest management with low toxicity to non-target organisms outside the Arthropoda. This article will focus on the chemical structure of insect JH and its biosynthetic and metabolic pathways as potential targets of pest management. In addition to several compounds that have already been identified as JH mimics and anti-JH compounds, the future direction of pest management using recombinant-DNA techniques will be described.

Insect juvenile hormone action as a potential target of pest management