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Body size determination in insects: a review and synthesis of size‐ and brain‐dependent and independent mechanisms
Author(s) -
Callier Viviane,
Nijhout H. Frederik
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
biological reviews
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.993
H-Index - 165
eISSN - 1469-185X
pISSN - 1464-7931
DOI - 10.1111/brv.12033
Subject(s) - brain size , biology , neuroscience , evolutionary biology , biological system , chemistry , medicine , radiology , magnetic resonance imaging
Body size determination requires a mechanism for sensing size and a mechanism for linking size information to the termination of growth. Although the hormonal mechanisms that terminate growth are well elucidated, the mechanisms by which a body senses its own size are only partially understood; most of this understanding has come from the study of the mechanisms that control insect moulting and metamorphosis. We first review and discuss advances in our understanding of the physiological mechanisms by which insect larvae sense their size. Second, we present new findings on how larvae in which the size‐sensing mechanism has been disrupted eventually terminate growth (in a size‐independent manner). We synthesize recent insights into the genetic and molecular mechanisms of ecdysteroid regulation in D rosophila melanogaster with developmental physiology findings in M anduca sexta , paving the way for an integrated understanding of the mechanisms of body size regulation.