QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

First published online February 1, 2008
Journal of Experimental Biology 211, 548-554 (2008)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2008
doi: 10.1242/jeb.009233

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Fan, Y. Articles by Schal, C. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Fan, Y. Articles by Schal, C.

Cuticular hydrocarbons as maternal provisions in embryos and nymphs of the cockroach Blattella germanica

Yongliang Fan, Dorit Eliyahu and Coby Schal^*

Department of Entomology and W. M. Keck Center for Behavioral Biology, Box 7613, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695 7613, USA

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: coby_schal{at}ncsu.edu)

Accepted 1 December 2007

Cuticular hydrocarbons of arthropods serve multiple functions, including as barriers to water loss and as pheromones and pheromone precursors. In the oviparous German cockroach, Blattella germanica, long-chain hydrocarbons are produced by oenocytes within the abdominal integument and are transported by a blood lipoprotein, lipophorin, both to the cuticular surface and into vitellogenic oocytes. Using radiotracer approaches, we tracked the location and metabolic fate of ¹⁴C- and ³H-labeled hydrocarbons through vitellogenic females and their embryos and nymphs. A considerable amount (50%) of radiolabeled maternal hydrocarbons was transferred to oocytes and persisted through a 20-day embryogenesis and the first two nymphal stadia. The maternal hydrocarbons were not degraded or lost during this protracted period, except for significant losses of cuticular hydrocarbons starting with the first-to-second instar molt. Thus, although embryos and nymphs can produce their own hydrocarbons, maternal hydrocarbons provide a significant fraction of the cuticular and hemolymph hydrocarbons of both stages. These results show, for the first time in any insect, that a mother provides a significant complement of her offspring's cuticular hydrocarbons. Further research will be needed to determine whether provisioning hydrocarbons to eggs is a general strategy among insects and other arthropods or if this strategy is limited to taxa where eggs and early instars are susceptible to desiccation.

Key words: cuticular hydrocarbons, maternal investment, waterproofing, communication, cockroach, Blattella germanica