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The Physiological Roles of Rhopr-kinins and the Molecular Characterization of their Gene in the Blood-gorging Insect, Rhodnius prolixus

The dramatic feeding-related activities of the Chagas' disease vector, Rhodnius prolixus are under neurohormonal regulation of serotonin and various neuropeptides. One such family of neuropeptides, the insect kinins, possesses diuretic, digestive and myotropic activities in many insects. In R. prolixus, they co-localize with the corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF)-like diuretic hormone (DH) in neurosecretory cell bodies and their abdominal neurohaemal sites. Additionally, kinins are present in endocrine cells of the midgut and are known to stimulate hindgut and midgut contractions. Through the experimentation presented in this dissertation, the cloning and spatial expression of the R. prolixus kinin (Rhopr-kinin) transcript is described. Physiological bioassays demonstrate the myostimulatory effects of selected Rhopr-kinin peptides and also illustrate the augmented responses of hindgut contractions to co-application of Rhopr-kinin and Rhopr-CRF/DH. The irreversible effects of two synthetic kinin analogs on the hindgut relative to the native kinins also exhibit the prospective biotechnological significance of this study.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:TORONTO/oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/33336
Date20 November 2012
CreatorsBhatt, Garima
ContributorsOrchard, Ian
Source SetsUniversity of Toronto
Languageen_ca
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis

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