This proposal will enable the investigators to participate with scientists in Kenya on a research program aimed at the discovery of neuroendocrine mechanisms that serve to coordinate metamorphic behavior in tsetse, the vector of African trypanosomiasis. Tsetse has a peculiar reproductive strategy in which larval development is completed within the uterus of the female and she gives birth to a fully developed third instar larva. Using techniques of larval ligation, ecdysteroid injection, and ecdysteroid RIA's, the time of commitment to metamorphosis and the timing and critical release of the ecdysteroids that trigger pupariation will be determined. The female's contribution to parturition will be monitored with a barographic technique to record changes in hemolymph pressure and by in vitro preparations of uterine muscles: both techniques will be used to assay the efficacy of hormones and other agents in eliciting the parturition response. The barographic technique will also be used to quantify the dramatic changes in hemolymph pressure that normally occur during pupariation. Alterations of the hemolymph pressure profile and responses to Sarcophaga pupariation bioassays will be used to test for the presence of discrete hormones that regulate subsets of pupariation: larval immobilization, retraction of the anterior segments, longitudinal contraction, and tanning. The mechanisms of pupation and pupal head evagination will also be measured barographically, and exogenous ecdysteroids will be tested for their efficacy in blocking this process. Eclosion and post-eclosion behavior (escape from the puparium, digging, and imaginal expansion) will be described with barographic and tensometric methods, and the hormonal regulation of these various behaviors will be investigated using bioassay techniques previously developed in Sarcophaga. This study should provide a basis for understanding metamorphic behavior and its neurohormonal regulation in tsetse and may thus augment strategies for the control of this important pest species.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01AI026178-03
Application #
3139882
Study Section
Tropical Medicine and Parasitology Study Section (TMP)
Project Start
1989-06-01
Project End
1992-11-30
Budget Start
1991-06-01
Budget End
1992-11-30
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
1991
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Ohio State University
Department
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
098987217
City
Columbus
State
OH
Country
United States
Zip Code
43210
Zdarek, J; Denlinger, D L (1992) Neural regulation of pupariation in tsetse larvae. J Exp Biol 173:11-24