Insect growth is punctuated by molts, during which the animal produces a new exoskeleton. The molt culminates with ecdysis, an ordered sequence of behaviors that causes the old cuticle to be shed. This sequence is activated by Ecdysis Triggering Hormone (ETH), which acts on the CNS to activate neurons that produce neuropeptides implicated in ecdysis, including Eclosion hormone (EH), Crustacean Cardioactive Peptide (CCAP), and bursicon. Despite over 40 years of research on ecdysis, our understanding of the precise roles of these neurohormones remains rudimentary. Of particular interest is EH, whose role beyond the well-accepted action of massively upregulating ETH release has remained elusive. We report on the isolation of an eh null mutant in Drosophila, and use it to investigate the role of EH in larval ecdysis. We found that null mutant animals invariably died at around the time of ecdysis, revealing an essential role in its control. Unexpectedly, however, they failed to express the preparatory behavior of pre-ecdysis while directly expressing the motor program of ecdysis. In addition, although ETH release could not be detected in these animals, the lack of pre-ecdysis could not be rescued by injections of ETH, suggesting that EH is required within the CNS for ETH to trigger the normal ecdysial sequence. Using a genetically-encoded calcium probe we show that EH configures the response of the CNS to ETH. These findings show that EH plays an essential role in the Drosophila CNS in the control of ecdysis, in addition to its known role in the periphery of triggering ETH release.
ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
RESEARCH ARTICLE|
01 January 2015
Genetic analysis of Eclosion hormone action during Drosophila larval ecdysis
Eileen Krüger,
Eileen Krüger
1
Centro Interdisciplinario de Neurociencia de Valparaíso, Universidad de Valparaíso, Chile
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Wilson Mena,
Wilson Mena
1
Centro Interdisciplinario de Neurociencia de Valparaíso, Universidad de Valparaíso, Chile
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Eleanor C. Lahr,
Eleanor C. Lahr
2
Entomology Department, Cornell University, 5130 Comstock, Ithaca, NY, 14850
, USA
3
Department of Atmospheric Sciences at Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77840
, USA
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Erik C. Johnson,
Erik C. Johnson
4
Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, 27109
, USA
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John Ewer
John Ewer
5
1
Centro Interdisciplinario de Neurociencia de Valparaíso, Universidad de Valparaíso, Chile
2
Entomology Department, Cornell University, 5130 Comstock, Ithaca, NY, 14850
, USA
5Author for correspondence:
Centro Interdisciplinario de Neurociencias de Valparaíso, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile
. Tel: 56-32-250-8143, FAX: 56-32-250-8040
, e-mail: john.ewer@uv.cl
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Eileen Krüger
1
Centro Interdisciplinario de Neurociencia de Valparaíso, Universidad de Valparaíso, Chile
Wilson Mena
1
Centro Interdisciplinario de Neurociencia de Valparaíso, Universidad de Valparaíso, Chile
Eleanor C. Lahr
2
Entomology Department, Cornell University, 5130 Comstock, Ithaca, NY, 14850
, USA
3
Department of Atmospheric Sciences at Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77840
, USA
Erik C. Johnson
4
Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, 27109
, USA
John Ewer
5
1
Centro Interdisciplinario de Neurociencia de Valparaíso, Universidad de Valparaíso, Chile
2
Entomology Department, Cornell University, 5130 Comstock, Ithaca, NY, 14850
, USA
5Author for correspondence:
Centro Interdisciplinario de Neurociencias de Valparaíso, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile
. Tel: 56-32-250-8143, FAX: 56-32-250-8040
, e-mail: john.ewer@uv.cl
Received:
31 May 2015
Accepted:
07 Sep 2015
Online ISSN: 1477-9129
Print ISSN: 0950-1991
© 2015. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd
2015
Development dev.126995.
Article history
Received:
31 May 2015
Accepted:
07 Sep 2015
Currently Viewing Accepted Manuscript - Newer Version Available
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Eileen Krüger, Wilson Mena, Eleanor C. Lahr, Erik C. Johnson, John Ewer; Genetic analysis of Eclosion hormone action during Drosophila larval ecdysis. Development 2015; dev.126995. doi: https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.126995
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