Neuropeptides in the regulation of Rhodnius prolixus physiology

ONS SHEILA

JOURNAL OF INSECT PHYSIOLOGY

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2016

0022-1910

In the kissing bug Rhodnius prolixus, events such as diuresis, antidiuresis,development and reproduction are triggered by blood feeding. Hence, theseevents can be accurately timed, facilitating physiological experiments. This,combined with its relatively big size, makes R. prolixus an excellent model in insect neuroendocrinologicalstudies. The importance of R. prolixusas a Chagas? disease vector as much as an insect model has motivated thesequencing of its genome in recent years, facilitating genetic and molecularstudies. Most crucial physiological processes are regulated by theneuroendocrine system, composed of neuropeptides and their receptors. Theidentification and characterization of neuropeptides and their receptors couldbe the first step to find targets for new insecticides. The sequences of 41neuropeptide precursor genes and the receptors for most of them were identifiedin the R. prolixus genome. Functionalinformation about many of these molecules was obtained, whereas manyneuroendocrine systems are still unstudied in this model species. This reviewaddresses the knowledge available to date regarding the structure,distribution, expression and physiological effects of neuropeptides in R. prolixus, and points to futuredirections  in this research field.