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Science 5 January 1996:
Vol. 271. no. 5245, pp. 88 - 91
DOI: 10.1126/science.271.5245.88
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Reports

Identification of Ecdysis-Triggering Hormone from an Epitracheal Endocrine System

Duan itan (1),  Timothy G. Kingan,  John L. Hermesman,  Michael E. Adams (2)

Developing insects repeatedly shed their cuticle by means of a stereotyped behavior called ecdysis, thought to be initiated by the brain peptide eclosion hormone. Here an ecdysis-triggering hormone, Mas-ETH, is described from the tobacco hornworm Manduca sexta. Mas-ETH contains 26 amino acids and is produced by a segmentally distributed endocrine system of epitracheal glands (EGs). The EGs undergo a marked reduction in volume, appearance, and immunohistochemical staining during ecdysis, at which time Mas-ETH is found in the hemolymph. Injection of EGs extract or synthetic Mas-ETH into pharate larvae, pupae,or adults initiates preecdysis within 2 to 10 minutes, followed by ecdysis. Sensitivity to injected Mas-ETH appears much earlier before ecdysis and occurs with shorter latency than that reported for eclosion hormone. The isolated central nervous system responds to Mas-ETH, but not to eclosion hormone, with patterned motor bursting corresponding to in vivo preecdysis and ecdysis. Mas-ETH may be an immediate blood-borne trigger for ecdysis through a direct action on the nervous system.


D. itan, J. L. Hermesman, M. E. Adams, Department of Entomology and Agricultural Experiment Station, 5419 Boyce Hall, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
T. G. Kingan, U.S. Department of Agriculture ARS Insect Neurobiology and Hormone Laboratory, BARC-East Building 306, Room 322, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA, and Department of Biological Sciences, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD 21228, USA.
(1) Present address: Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dubravska cesta 9, 84206 Bratislava, Slovakia. E-mail: uzaedus{at}savba.savba.sk
(2) To whom correspondence should be addressed.


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