Quantification of insect senescence using lipid parameters in the Medfly Ceratitis capitata

BOCCHICCHIO, PABLO; PUJOL-LEREIS, L.; RABOSSI, A.; LUIS A. QUESADA ALLUÉ

Puerto Madryn

Congreso; CONGRESO SAIB; 2010

SAIB

Aging is defined as the pattern of change in mortality over age. To study the combinatorial effects of stress and age in Medfly adults, reference biochemical and physiological parameters were studied. The age- sex- and tagma-dependent changes in storage molecules (lipids, glycogen and proteins), and in lipid peroxidation and protein carbonylation were quantified. The decay in male locomotor activity started very early after emergence but no deaths were registered until the fourth week. Then 50% of the males died during the next two weeks. The maximum level of total lipids was attained at day 20 in thorax/muscle and in head/brain and then diminished with age. However free and bound body sterols increased with age with the exception of head/brain free sterols that decreased at day 15 to later return to previous level. Significantly lipid peroxidation in head and thorax was high until day 15, and then decreased. Our results demonstrate that significant changes occur in male brain and muscle lipid profiles from days 15 to 20, just preceeding the initiation of deaths.