Insect Metabolism and Physiology

A special issue of Metabolites (ISSN 2218-1989).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2024) | Viewed by 4780

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Animal Physiology and Developmental Biology, Institute of Experimental Biology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland
Interests: animal and human anatomy and physiology; comparative physiology; insect metabolism; bioenergetics; neurohormones

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Guest Editor
Department of Animal Physiology and Developmental Biology, Institute of Experimental Biology/Laboratory of Electron and Confocal Microscopy, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland
Interests: insect; larva; moths; entomology; cell biology; developmental biology; pesticides; ultrastructure; electron microscopy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Department of Animal Physiology and Developmental Biology, Institute of Experimental Biology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland
Interests: animal physiology; comparative physiology; energy metabolism; metabolism; human physiology; insect muscarinic receptors; physiology; plant extracts

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Insects are the largest and most diverse class of organisms on Earth. They exhibit high plasticity to different environmental conditions, including abiotic and biotic stressors. This ability is responsible for their ecological success and their prevalence around the world. Moreover, due to the conservation of their signaling pathways, energy metabolism, and structural components with mammals they are useful model organisms to examine human diseases and to establish drug toxicity, as well as pharmaceutical activity. This Special Issue covers but is not limited to the effects of temperature, humidity, salinity, or xenobiotics on insect metabolism and physiology. Special attention will be focused on the impact of environmental factors on cellular metabolites’ level and fluxes, enzyme activity of key metabolic pathways, bioenergetic processes, including energy metabolism signaling pathways, as well as oxidative stress balance. Next, we also welcome papers focusing on the metabolites that play important roles in pathways that play crucial roles in insects and contributed to the incredible evolutionary success of insects, allowing them to colonize numerous ecosystems and enable them to survive in unfavorable conditions. We welcome original research articles and reviews covering these topics.

Prof. Dr. Małgorzata Słocińska
Prof. Dr. Zbigniew Adamski
Dr. Szymon Chowański
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • insect metabolism
  • insect physiology
  • primary and secondary metabolites
  • enzymes
  • metabolic pathways
  • biotic and abiotic stressors

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 3765 KiB  
Article
Solanaceae Glycoalkaloids Disturb Lipid Metabolism in the Tenebrio molitor Beetle
by Magdalena Joanna Winkiel, Szymon Chowański, Marek Gołębiowski, Sabino Aurelio Bufo and Małgorzata Słocińska
Metabolites 2023, 13(12), 1179; https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo13121179 - 30 Nov 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1849
Abstract
Glycoalkaloids (GAs) are produced naturally by plants and affect insect survivability and fertility. These compounds can be considered potential bioinsecticides; however, the mechanisms and effects of their action remain undiscovered. As lipids are essential molecules for the proper functioning of an insect organism, [...] Read more.
Glycoalkaloids (GAs) are produced naturally by plants and affect insect survivability and fertility. These compounds can be considered potential bioinsecticides; however, the mechanisms and effects of their action remain undiscovered. As lipids are essential molecules for the proper functioning of an insect organism, this research aimed to determine the effects of GAs on the lipid metabolism of the Tenebrio molitor beetle. Solanine, chaconine, tomatine, and tomato leaf extract were applied to larvae by injection at two concentrations, 10−8 and 10−5 M. Then, the tissue was isolated after 2 and 24 h to determine the levels of free fatty acids, sterols and esters using the GC–MS technique. Moreover, the triacylglyceride level and the activity of the key β-oxidation enzyme, 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase (HADH), were measured. The results indicate that GAs affect the content and composition of lipid compounds in the beetles’ haemolymph and fat body. The effects depend on the GA concentrations, incubation time, and kind of tissue. Moreover, the tested compounds decrease HADH activity, especially in the fat body, which may affect energy production. To our knowledge, this is the first study concerning lipid metabolism in T. molitor after GA application. Our results provide some insights into that topic. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Insect Metabolism and Physiology)
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14 pages, 1096 KiB  
Article
Lipidomic Profiling Reveals Concerted Temporal Patterns of Functionally Related Lipids in Aedes aegypti Females Following Blood Feeding
by Meng-Jia Lau, Shuai Nie, Qiong Yang, Lawrence G. Harshman, Cungui Mao, Nicholas A. Williamson and Ary A. Hoffmann
Metabolites 2023, 13(3), 421; https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo13030421 - 13 Mar 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1986
Abstract
We conducted a lipidomic analysis of the whole body of female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes at different time points over the course of feeding and reproduction. There were temporal biphasic increases of more than 80% of lipids identified at the time of feeding and [...] Read more.
We conducted a lipidomic analysis of the whole body of female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes at different time points over the course of feeding and reproduction. There were temporal biphasic increases of more than 80% of lipids identified at the time of feeding and from 16 h to 30 h post blood meal (PBM). During these two increases, the abundance of many lipids dropped while body weight remained stable, probably reflecting blood lipid digestion and the synthesis of vitellogenin in this period. A concerted temporal pattern was particularly strong at the second peak for membrane and signalling lipids such as phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), phosphatidylinositol (PI), cardiolipin (CL), hexosylceramide (HexCer) and lyso-phosphatidic acid (LPA). Lyso-glycerophospholipids showed three distinct change patterns that are functionally related: Lyso-PE and Lyso-phosphatidylcholine (LPC), which are membrane lipids, showed little change; LPA, a signalling lipid, showed a significant increase from 16 to 30 h PBM; Lyso-PI, a bioactive lipid, and both lyso-phosphatidylglycerol (LPG) and lyso-phosphatidylserine (LPS), which are bacterial membrane lipids, showed one significant increase from the time of feeding to 16 h post blood meal. The result of our study on the anautogenous insect Ae. aegypti point to specific lipids likely to be important in the reproductive process with a role in the formation and growth of ovarian follicles. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Insect Metabolism and Physiology)
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