Role of the head in the ultrastructural midgut organization in Rhodnius prolixus larvae: evidence from head transplantation experiments and ecdysone therapy

Studies on the effects of decapitation, head transplantation and ecdysone therapy on the ultrastructural organization of the midgut in 5th-instar larvae of Rhodnius prolixus, were carried out. Control insects had a typical and significant organization of the epithelial cells (mainly microvilli, extracellular membrane layers and basal portion of the epithelial cells) of the midgut (stomach and intestine) during the entire period of the experiment. However, the host larvae, when decapitated 1 day after feeding, demonstrated significant changes in the ultrastructural organization of the epithelial cells of these compartments. In converse experiments, head transplantations from untreated donors 4-5 days after feeding into headless larvae sustained the ultrastructural organization of the epithelial cells in the midgut. Oral therapy with ecdysone (5 &mgr;g/mL of blood meal) in decapitated insects significantly reversed the altered organization of the stomach and intestine. These results point to a brain factor, possibly the prothoracicotropic hormone (PTTH) which stimulates ecdysteroid production in the prothoracic glands, may be a factor responsible, directly or indirectly, for the midgut cell organization in R. prolixus.