▪ Abstract This review covers selected literature from 1982 to the present on some of the ecological, behavioral, and biochemical aspects of hydrocarbon use by insects and other arthropods. Major ecological and behavioral topics are species- and gender-recognition, nestmate recognition, task-specific cues, dominance and fertility cues, chemical mimicry, and primer pheromones. Major biochemical topics include chain length regulation, mechanism of hydrocarbon formation, timing of hydrocarbon synthesis and transport, and biosynthesis of volatile hydrocarbon pheromones of Lepidoptera and Coleoptera. In addition, a section is devoted to future research needs in this rapidly growing area of science.

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Ecological, behavioral, and biochemical aspects of insect hydrocarbons*

Immunoblotting and dot immunobinding--current status and outlook.

Protein blotting: Principles and applications

Tyramine, β-phenylethylamine, tryptamine, and octopamine are biogenic amines present in trace levels in mammalian nervous systems. Although some “trace amines” have clearly defined roles as neurotransmitters in invertebrates, the extent to which they function as true neurotransmitters in vertebrates has remained speculative. Using a degenerate PCR approach, we have identified 15 G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) from human and rodent tissues. Together with the orphan receptor PNR, these receptors form a subfamily of rhodopsin GPCRs distinct from, but related to the classical biogenic amine receptors. We have demonstrated that two of these receptors bind and/or are activated by trace amines. The cloning of mammalian GPCRs for trace amines supports a role for trace amines as neurotransmitters in vertebrates. Three of the four human receptors from this family are present in the amygdala, possibly linking trace amine receptors to affective disorders. The identification of this family of receptors should rekindle the investigation of the roles of trace amines in mammalian nervous systems and may potentially lead to the development of novel therapeutics for a variety of indications.

https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/98/16/8966.full.pdf

Trace amines: identification of a family of mammalian G protein-coupled receptors.

Mechanism of action of insecticidal secondary metabolites of plant origin

The cDNA for Tyr-Loc, a G protein-coupled receptor that clearly shows homology to a number of mammalian and fruit fly receptors for biogenic amines, was cloned from the nervous system of Locusta migratoria. Functional expression of the cloned cDNA was obtained in cultured insect cells, i.e., in Spodoptera SF9 cells using a baculoviral expression system and in stably transformed Drosophila Schneider 2 (S2) cells. Multiple copies of the receptor expression construct are inserted into the genome of these permanently transformed cells. The expression of the receptor cDNA was driven by the upstream sequences of a Bombyx mori baculoviral immediate early gene. Tyramine shows a much higher binding affinity to this receptor than other possible endogenous ligands. It also reduces forskolin-induced cyclic AMP production in the permanently transformed S2 cells. The pharmacological profile of the Tyr-Loc receptor is distinct from that of any locust receptor-type described so far, but it is similar to that of the Drosophila tyramine/octopamine receptor. In the locust CNS, the Tyr-Loc mRNA is not present in the distal part of the optic lobes but has a widespread distribution in the brain and the ventral nerve cord.

Characterization of a cloned locust tyramine receptor cDNA by functional expression in permanently transformed Drosophila S2 cells.

Induction of vitellogenin synthesis in male Sarcophaga bullata by ecdysterone

https://febs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1016/0014-5793%2882%2980202-0

A. De Loof

Papers

Characterization of a cloned locust tyramine receptor cDNA by functional expression in permanently transformed Drosophila S2 cells.

Induction of vitellogenin synthesis in male Sarcophaga bullata by ecdysterone

Vacuum-blotting: a new simple and efficient transfer of proteins from sodium dodecyl sulfate—polyacrylamide gels to nitrocellulose

Lom-AG-myotropin: a novel myotropic peptide from the male accessory glands of Locusta migratoria

Newly discovered functions for some myotropic neuropeptides in locusts.