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Rhodnius prolixus : From classical physiology to modern developmental biology
Author(s) -
NunesdaFonseca Rodrigo,
Berni Mateus,
TobiasSantos Vitória,
Pane Attilio,
Araujo Helena Marcolla
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
genesis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.093
H-Index - 110
eISSN - 1526-968X
pISSN - 1526-954X
DOI - 10.1002/dvg.22995
Subject(s) - rhodnius prolixus , rhodnius , biology , insect , hemiptera , evolutionary biology , zoology , trypanosoma cruzi , chagas disease , entomology , physiology , ecology , immunology , parasite hosting , world wide web , computer science
The hemiptera Rhodnius prolixus is a blood‐feeding insect and a primary vector of Trypanosoma cruzi , the etiological agent of the Chagas disease. Over the past century, Rhodnius has been the subject of intense investigations, which have contributed to unveil important aspects of metabolism and physiology in insects. Recent technological innovations are helping dissect the genetic and molecular underpinnings of Rhodnius embryogenesis and organogenesis, thus fostering the use of this important species in the fields of developmental and evolutionary biology. Rhodnius represents also an excellent system to study development under stressful conditions, since the embryo must develop in the presence of a large amount of blood‐derived reactive oxygen species. With a recently sequenced genome, small among other Hemiptera, and the identification of basic elements for all classical development pathways, functional studies in this species are revealing novel aspects of insect development and evolution. Here we review early studies on this model insect and how this paved the way for recent functional studies using the kissing bug.