Insect capa neuropeptides impact desiccation and cold tolerance
Abstract
The success of insects is linked to their impressive tolerance to environmental stress, but little is known about how such responses are mediated by the neuroendocrine system. Here we show that the capability (capa) neuropeptide gene is a desiccation- and cold stress-responsive gene in diverse dipteran species. Using targeted in vivo gene silencing, physiological manipulations, stress-tolerance assays, and rationally designed neuropeptide analogs, we demonstrate that the Drosophila melanogaster capa neuropeptide gene and its encoded peptides alter desiccation and cold tolerance. Knockdown of the capa gene increases desiccation tolerance but lengthens chill coma recovery time, and injection of capa peptide analogs can reverse both phenotypes. Immunohistochemical staining suggests that capa accumulates in the capa-expressing Va neurons during desiccation and nonlethal cold stress but is not released until recovery from each stress. Our results also suggest that regulation of cellular ion and water homeostasis mediated by capa peptide signaling in the insect Malpighian (renal) tubules is a key physiological mechanism during recovery from desiccation and cold stress. This work augments our understanding of how stress tolerance is mediated by neuroendocrine signaling and illustrates the use of rationally designed peptide analogs as agents for disrupting protective stress tolerance.
Citation
Terhzaz , S , Teets , N M , Cabrero , P , Henderson , L , Ritchie , M G , Nachman , R J , Dow , J A T , Denlinger , D L & Davies , S-A 2015 , ' Insect capa neuropeptides impact desiccation and cold tolerance ' , Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America , vol. 112 , no. 9 , pp. 2882-2887 . https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1501518112
Publication
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0027-8424Type
Journal article
Rights
Copyright 2015. The Authors. Freely available online through the PNAS open access option.
Description
This work was funded by grants from the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/G020620 and BB/L002647/1) (to S.-A.D., J.A.T.D., and S.T.); US Department of Agriculture/Department of Defense Deployed War Fighters Protection Grant Initiative (#6202-22000-029-00D) and US–Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund (BARD) (IS-4205-09C) (R.J.N.); and the National Science Foundation (IOS-0840772) (D.L.D.).Collections
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