Female-specific wing degeneration is triggered by ecdysteroid in cultures of wing discs from the bagworm moth, Eumeta variegata (Insecta: Lepidoptera, Psychidae) (original) (raw)

Abstract

Female adults of the bagworm moth, Eumeta variegata, are completely wingless; by contrast, the male adults have functional wings. Sex-specific differences in the development of wing discs appear to arise during the 8th (penultimate) larval instar. We have previously found that the wing discs of female E. variegata terminate development and disappear during the prepupal period, whereas the wing discs of males continue to develop fully into adult wings. We have investigated the effects of ecdysteroid (20-hydroxyecdysone, 20E) when cultured with larval wing discs, which are normally attached to the larval integument of both male and female larvae. Male wing discs cultured with 20E undergo a remarkable transformation: the discs undergo apolysis and then differentiation. Female wing discs cultured with 20E also undergo apolysis; however, the disc cells enter apoptosis. We have observed condensed chromatin, fragmented nuclei, and secondary lysosomes in the epithelial cells of these female discs. This report establishes that the reduction of female wing discs arises through apoptotic events triggered by ecdysteroid in vitro.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. R. Futahashi for helpful comments and discussion, Dr. Y. Kobayashi (Tokyo Metropolitan University, T.M.U.) for useful comments in preparing the manuscript, and Dr. I. Uemura and Dr. Y. Sato (T.M.U.) for their technical support with the transmission electron microscopy.

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Authors and Affiliations

1. Department of Natural History, Graduate School of Sciences, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Minami-Ohsawa 1–1, Hachioji, Tokyo, 192–0397, Japan
   Shuhei Niitsu
2. Molecular and Computational Biology, University of Southern California, 1050 Childs Way, Room 219A, Los Angeles, CA 90089–2910, USA
   Saori Lobbia
3. Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Kanagawa University, 2946 Tsuchiya, Hiratsuka, 259-1293, Japan
   Susumu Izumi
4. Department of Integrated Biosciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, University of Tokyo, Bioscience Building 501, Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, 277-8562, Japan
   Haruhiko Fujiwara

Authors

1. Shuhei Niitsu
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2. Saori Lobbia
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3. Susumu Izumi
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4. Haruhiko Fujiwara
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Correspondence toShuhei Niitsu.

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Niitsu, S., Lobbia, S., Izumi, S. et al. Female-specific wing degeneration is triggered by ecdysteroid in cultures of wing discs from the bagworm moth, Eumeta variegata (Insecta: Lepidoptera, Psychidae).Cell Tissue Res 333, 169–173 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-008-0615-7

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• Received: 03 December 2007
• Accepted: 28 March 2008
• Published: 14 May 2008
• Issue Date: July 2008
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-008-0615-7

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