Allatostatin-like peptide in the brain-retrocerebral complex of the earwig Labidura riparia: cyclic variations related to the reproductive cycle

Summary

A polyclonal antibody raised against allatostatin-3 of Blattella germanica (BLAST-3) has been used to immunolocalize allatostatin-like peptides in the brain-retrocerebral complex of Labidura riparia adult females. Strongly stained immunoreactive cells are observed in the pars intercerebralis (14 cells) and mainly in the pars lateralis (32 cells). Fibres leading to the corpus allatum are also stained. In the deutocerebrum, one cell is immunostained at the root of each antennal nerve. In the tritocerebmm two cells in each brain hemisphere are weakly immunostained. During the reproductive cycle, these cells and their axons show immunoreactivity at previtellogenic, ovulation and ovarian arrest periods. During vitellogenesis, immunoreactivity is restricted to only four perikarya in the pars intercerebralis.

When young vitellogenic females are injected with 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E), which inhibits vitellogenesis, full immunoreactivity reappears, suggesting sensibility of these cells to 20E as is expected for a negative feed-back loop (Sayah et al., 1995).

These results show that BLAST-3-like material is produced periodically in Labidura in correlation with low levels of juvenile hormone and the absence of vitellogenesis. This study contributes to provide information on the degree of homology of allatostatins across various insects.