Meeting Abstract
Recent studies have shown that in holometabolous insects, Ventral veins lacking (Vvl), a POU domain transcription factor, regulates ecdysteroid biosynthesis to influence molting. To determine the degree of conservation in the transcriptional control of the endocrine system, we silenced the expression of vvl in the hemimetabolous insect, Oncopeltus fasciatus. When vvl was silenced, the nymphs failed to molt and eventually died. vvl knockdown led to reduced expression of the ecdysone response gene, HR3. Injection of 20E into vvl knockdown nymphs rescued the HR3 expression but not the molting phenotype. vvl knockdown also led to subsequent reduction in the levels of the ecdysone biosynthesis genes in the anterior portion of the body. Therefore, the transcriptional regulation of ecdysteroid biosynthesis is conserved between hemimetaoblous and holometabolous insects.
