A modification of the fluorescent histochemical glyoxylic acid (GA) method was used for localization of biogenic amines in wholemount ventral nerve cord and suboesophageal ganglia of the cockroach, Periplaneta americana. The distributions of fluorescent neurone somata within each ganglion and of nerve processes within the ganglia, interganglionic connectives and peripheral nerves were determined. An assessment was made of the effects of colchicine, nialamide plus DOPA and reserpine on the specific tissue fluorescence. The available evidence suggests that most of the specific fluorescence is due to dopamine. Infusion of hexamminecobaltic chloride was used to identify which fluorescent neurone pairs in the prothoracic and suboesophageal ganglia projected into the interganglionic connnectives and peripheral nerves. In order to determine the detailed morphology of certain of the fluorescent neurones GA was combined with intracellular injection of either Lucifer Yellow, hexamminecobaltic chloride, or Horseradish peroxidase. Technical difficulties, however, were encountered with the identification and filling of the neurones. A prothoracic neurone was identified which depolarized in response to pressure ejected and bath applied dopamine and noradrenaline. Both phentolamine and propranolol reversibly inhibited the dopamine response, although these drugs were also effective at antagonizing the cell's response to acetylcholine. Bath application of the drugs forskolin, IBMX and dibutyryl cyclic AMP provided evidence that in this case dopamine does not act through the second messenger, cyclic AMP. Additional electrophysiological experiments determined the effect of pressure ejected application of glutamate and GABA upon the electrical response of an identified metathoracic motoneurone. Picrotoxin reversibly inhibited the amino acid responses. Long term application of both picrotoxin and 4-acetamido-4' -isothiocyanostilbene-2,2'-disulphonic acid (SITS) produced changes in the membrane properties of the neurone such that the neurone somata became able to actively support action potentials.

The American cockroach, Periplaneta americana, is an abundant and globally distributed species. Much of its success is attributed to its remarkable ability to alter rates and utilization efficiencies of behavioural and physiological processes so as to maintain growth and reproduction within nutritionally variable environments. This study utilized artificial diets diluted with cellulose to investigate the impact of food quality on the life history tactics of this species and the compensatory mechanisms involved in offsetting these impacts. To investigate the impact of diet quality on the life history tactics of the American cockroach, seven dietary regimes were implemented. The control condition consisted of an unaltered 100% quality diet. The remaining six treatments were diluted with cellulose resulting in diet qualities of 50%, 25%, 10%, 5%, 2.5%, and 0%. The parameters examined included mortality, longevity, instar number, instar durations, growth, maturation dates, maturation sizes, dry mass budgets, and reproduction. The dry mass budgets involved observations of growth rate, feeding rate, assimilation rate, respiration rate, assimilation efficiency, efficiency of conversion of ingested food into biomass, and efficiency of conversion of digested food into biomass. Reproductive studies entailed observations of oothecal production, oviposition intervals, inter-oviposition intervals, mass of oothecae, oothecal dimensions, egg number, oothecal cannibalism, and hatching dates. Strongly canalized development was achieved by resilient compensatory responses indicative of altered physiological and behavioural features. Cockroaches developed and reproduced adequately even when nutrient concentration was reduced to 25% of the controls. The declines in various key parameters were considerably less than expected from the degree of dietary dilution. In addition, elevated consumption and enhanced conversion efficiencies strongly suggest that cockroaches normally function at submaximal levels. The applied relevance of this research entails possible ramifications into the regulation and control of cockroaches. Furthermore, such knowledge enhances our understanding of not only diverse lifestyles but also the degree of variability to which insects may modify life history features in response to resource supply. / Thesis / Master of Science (MS)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1975. / Vita. Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Presented as Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1925. / "Reprinted from the Journal of experimental zoölogy, vol. 44., April, 1926." Includes bibliographical references (p. 248-249).

Adults of Periplaneta americana, P. australasiae, P. brunnea, P. fuliginosa, and P. japonica are well known and have been well described. However, little systematic work has been conducted on the immature stages. There are very few descriptions of the nymphs of any Periplaneta species, and those that are available are rather brief and not completely accurate. This paper presents detailed descriptions and keys to the first-stage nymphs of the above species. Five types of setae, including unique mechanoreceptive setae, were found on the thoracic segments. P. australasiae, P. fuliginosa, and P. brunnea have very setose thoracic nota·and a banded color pattern, while thoracic nota of P. americana and P. japonica are less setose and solid in color. Great variability of setal number and color pattern probably exists among all the species in the genus. / Master of Science

Biogene Amine sind eine Substanzklasse, die bei Vertebraten und Invertebraten eine wichtige Komponente des endokrinen Systems darstellen. Sie binden an spezifische Rezeptoren der Gruppe der G-Protein gekoppelten Rezeptoren. In dieser Arbeit wurden zwei neue Rezeptoren aus der Schabe Periplaneta americana kloniert. Durch verschiedene Ansätze konnten zwei vollständige cDNA-Sequenzen isoliert werden. Die Aminosäuresequenzen weisen die größte Ähnlichkeit zu bereits bekannten Tyraminrezeptoren aus Locusta/Bombyx bzw. zu Dopaminrezeptoren aus Apis/Drosophila auf. Entsprechend wurden diese Rezeptoren Pea (P. americana) TYR1 und PeaDOP2 genannt. Deutliche Hinweise auf ihre Funktion lassen sich an den abgeleiteten Aminosäuresequenzen ablesen. Aminosäuren, die wichtig bei der Bildung der Bindungstasche, der Rezeptoraktivierung und der Kopplung eines G-Proteins sind, treten bei beiden Rezeptoren auf. Sequenzalignments stellen die Rezeptoren in die Gruppe anderer Tyraminrezeptoren bzw. der Invertebraten-Typ Dopaminrezeptoren. Das Transkript der beiden Rezeptoren konnte durch RT-PCR in verschiedenen Geweben nachgewiesen werden. Ein Ziel der Arbeit war die Gewinnung eines polyklonalen Antiserums gegen PeaTYR1. Dieses Serum detektiert im Homogenat von Gehirnen mehrere Banden, darunter auch eine mit der kalkulierten Masse von PeaTYR1. Präabsorption des Serums mit dem Peptid, welches zur Reinigung verwendet wurde, zeigt dessen Spezifität. An Gehirnschnitten markiert das Serum große Teile des Protocerebrums aber auch feinere Strukturen der Antennalloben, der optischen Loben und des Zentralkomplexes. Ein weiteres Serum gegen Tyramin führte zu einer Markierung von mehreren Neuronengruppen, welche sich in die optischen Loben und den Zentralkomplex verzweigen. Der αPeaTYR1-CPL3 Antikörper markierte die Plasmamembran von transfizierten HEK293-Zellen. Die Lokalisierung von Rezeptor und Ligand deuten darauf hin, dass Tyramin die optische und olfaktorische Wahrnehmung beeinflussen könnte. / Biogenic amines form a group of substances which play an important role in the endocrine system of invertebrates and vertebrates. They bind to specific receptors of the G-protein coupled type. In this work two new receptors from Periplaneta americana were cloned. By several approaches two full-length cDNA sequences were obtained. The amino acid sequence is very similar to known tyramine receptors of Locusta/Bombyx or dopamine receptors from Apis/Drosophila, respectively. Therefore they were named PeaTYR1 and PeaDOP2. Residues which are important for forming the binding pocket, activation of the receptor or G-protein coupling could be identified in both receptors. Sequence alignments group them together with other tyramine receptors or insect-type dopamine receptors. The corresponding mRNA can be detected in different tissues by RT-PCR. One aim of this work was the preparation of a polyclonal antiserum against PeaTYR1. This serum detects several bands in a brain homogenate; one has the calculated mass of PeaTYR1. Its specificity was proven by praeabsorption. On brain slices the serum labels large regions in the protocerebrum, but also fine structures in the antennal lobes, the optic lobes or the central complex. Another serum against tyramine labels several cell clusters, which ramify within the optic lobes and the central complex. On transfected HEK293 cells the receptor can be detected on the plasma membrane. The localization of receptor and ligand may indicate a role of tyramine in optical/olfactory perception.

Cockroach salivary glands are innervated by dopaminergic and serotonergic neurons. Both transmitters elicit saliva secretion. We studied the distribution pattern of neurons containing gamma-aminobutyric acid ( GABA) and their physiological role. Immunofluorescence revealed a GABA-immunoreactive axon that originates within the subesophageal ganglion at the salivary neuron 2 (SN2) and this extends within the salivary duct nerve towards the salivary gland. GABA-positive fibers form a network on most acinar lobules and a dense plexus in the interior of a minor fraction of acinar lobules. Co-staining with anti-synapsin revealed that some putative GABAergic terminals seem to make pre-synaptic contacts with GABA-negative release sites. Many putative GABAergic release sites are at some distance from other synapses and at distance from the acinar tissue. Intracellular recordings from isolated salivary glands have revealed that GABA does not affect the basolateral membrane potential of the acinar cells directly. When applied during salivary duct nerve stimulation, GABA enhances the electrical response of the acinar cells and increases the rates of fluid and protein secretion. The effect on electrical cell responses is mimicked by the GABA(B) receptor agonists baclofen and SKF97541, and blocked by the GABAB receptor antagonists CGP52432 and CGP54626. These findings indicate that GABA has a modulatory role in the control of salivation, acting presynaptically on serotonergic and/or dopaminergic neurotransmission.

No description available.

No description available.

L’utilisation intensive des insecticides pour lutter contre les insectes ravageurs de culture et vecteurs demaladies, a conduit à des polémiques sur le mode d’action des insecticides. Ces polémiques sont liéesau fait que le mode d’action des insecticides, notamment des néonicotinoïdes est mal connu. Ils agissentprincipalement sur les récepteurs à l’acétylcholine (ACh) de type nicotinique (nAChR) qui jouent un rôlefondamental dans la transmission synaptique cholinergique. Bien que ces récepteurs soient bien décritschez les mammifères, très peu d’études ont évalué l’effet des néoniotinoïdes sur un récepteur natifd’insecte.Au cours de cette thèse, nous avons pour la première fois exprimé en ovocytes de xénope un récepteurhomomérique ⍺7 de blatte et étudié ces propriétés pharmacologiques vis-à-vis des néonicotinoïdes,comparativement au récepteur a7 de rat. Nos résultats révèlent un récepteur atypique qui est insensibleà l’⍺-bungarotoxine et qui n’est pas activé par les néonicotinoïdes. Ainsi, bien que les gènes codantpour les sous-unités α7 de blatte et de rat forment un groupe monophylétique distinct des autres sousunitésd’insectes et de mammifères, les récepteurs homomériques obtenus semblent avoir despropriétés pharmacologiques différentes. Parallèlement, nous avons étudié les propriétéspharmacologiques des nAChR natifs et notamment l’effet modulateur d’un pyréthrinoïde, la permethrine,sur les courants induits par le dinotefurane. Ce travail a permis d’évaluer le mode d’action d’unantiparasitaire, le Vectra 3D. Enfin, nous avons également entrepris de développer la techniqued’extraction membranaire afin de l’utiliser comme alternative pour étudier le mode d’action desinsecticides.Pour conclure, cette thèse a permis une avancée sur l’étude de la caractérisation des propriétéspharmacologiques des récepteurs nicotiniques neuronaux des insectes et sur l’étude du mode d’actiondes insecticides néonicotinoïdes. / The intensive use of insecticides against crop pests and vectors of human and animal leads to several polemics about their mode of action. All these controversies are related to the fact that the mode of action of insecticides in insects is poorly unknown, in particular neonicotinoids which act on nicotinic acetylcholine (ACh) receptors (nAChR).During this PhD thesis, we characterized for the first time the pharmacological properties of a cockroach ⍺7 homomeric receptor in a xenopus oocyte. Our results revealed that cockroach ⍺7 in an atypical receptor that is insensitive to ⍺-bungarotoxin and not activated by neonicotinoids. Cockroach and rat ⍺7 receptors which are included in the same cluster have distinct pharmacological properties. We then studied the pharmacological properties of native receptors, in particular, the modulatory effect of permethrin on dinotefuran-induced currents. This work was included in the study of Vectra 3D. We also evaluated the use of insect central nervous system membrane extraction as a strategy to study the pharmacological properties of insect native nAChRs.To conclude, this PhD contribute to the study of the pharmacological properties of insect nAChRs and the study of the mode of action of neonicotinoids insecticides.