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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Gainesville, Florida » Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology » Mosquito and Fly Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #222606
Title: Developmental and environmental regulation of AaeIAP1 transcript in Aedes aegypti.

Author
item Wei Pridgeon, Yuping
item Zhao, Liming
item Becnel, James
item Clark, Gary
item Linthicum, Kenneth - Ken

Submitted to: Journal of Medical Entomology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/24/2008
Publication Date: 11/1/2008
Citation: Pridgeon, J.W., Zhao, L., Becnel, J.J., Clark, G.G., Linthicum, K.J. 2008. Developmental and environmental regulation of AaeIAP1 transcript in Aedes aegypti. Journal of Medical Entomology. 45(6):1071-1079.

Interpretive Summary: Apoptosis (programmed cell death) is an important physiological process. The inhibitors of apoptosis proteins (IAPs) are key regulators of apoptosis. An inhibitor of apoptosis protein gene IAP1 was recently cloned from the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti. However, it is not clear whether this IAP gene is important in the development in the mosquito. In this study, we applied quantitative PCR to investigate the expression levels of the AaeIAP1 transcript in different developmental stages and under different environmental conditions. Our results showed that the expression of the AaeIAP1 transcript was detectable in all life stages of Ae. aegypti, with significantly higher levels in pupal and adult stages than in larval stages. Our results also showed that the expression level of AaeIAP1 transcript was increased significantly when Ae. aegypti was exposed to stressful conditions (e.g., low and high temperatures, ultraviolet radiation, acetone, and permethrin insecticide treatment). Our results suggest that AaeIAP1 might play an important functional role in both the physiological development and stress-induced apoptosis in the yellow fever mosquito.

Technical Abstract: Apoptosis (programmed cell death) is a tightly regulated physiological process. The inhibitors of apoptosis proteins (IAPs) are key regulators for apoptosis. An inhibitor of apoptosis protein gene IAP1 was recently cloned from Aedes aegypti (AaeIAP1, Genbank accession no. DQ993355), however, it is not clear whether AaeIAP1 is developmentally and environmentally regulated. In this study, we applied quantitative PCR to investigate the expression levels of the AaeIAP1 transcript in different developmental stages and under different environmental conditions. Our results revealed that the expression of the AaeIAP1 transcript was detectable in all life stages of Ae. aegypti, with significantly higher levels in pupal and adult stages than in larval stages. Furthermore, when Ae. aegypti was exposed to stressful environmental conditions (e.g., low and high temperatures, ultraviolet radiation, acetone, and permethrin insecticide treatment), the expression level of AaeIAP1 transcript was increased significantly. Our results suggest that AaeIAP1 might play an important function role in both the physiological development of Ae. aegypti and stress-induced apoptosis.