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Identification of a specialized lipid barrier for Drosophila metamorphosis

bioRxiv, ISSN: 2692-8205
2024
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  • Mentions
    2
    • Blog Mentions
      1
      • Blog
        1
    • News Mentions
      1
      • 1

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Identification of a specialized lipid barrier for Drosophila metamorphosis

2024 OCT 24 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Health & Medicine Daily -- According to news reporting based on a preprint

Article Description

In many terrestrial insects, the onset of metamorphosis marks a transition from humid to dry environments. Yet how metamorphosing insect pupae protect themselves against the threat of dehydration remains unclear. Here, we identify the chemical composition and biosynthetic origins of a lipid desiccation barrier specific to the pupal and sexually-immature adult stages of Drosophila melanogaster. This barrier comprises unisex hyper-long hydrocarbons, 29-37 carbons in length, which are synthesized by larval oenocytes and stored in the larval fat body before being deployed on the pupal and young adult cuticles. We show that the fatty acid elongase EloHL is required for the biosynthesis of hyper-long hydrocarbons that are essential for the barrier to water loss during metamorphosis. Across the Drosophila genus, many species express unisex profiles of hyper-long hydrocarbons and, as young adults, transition to sex-specific shorter hydrocarbons with known pheromonal functions. The desert species D. mojavensis, however, retains hyper-long hydrocarbons during adulthood likely as an adaptation to an arid environment. Our study reveals how the cuticular lipid barrier is tuned to meet changing environmental pressures during insect development and evolution.

Bibliographic Details

Lena Lampe; Clare L. Newell; Rami Makki; Alex P. Gould; Ian S. Gilmore; Bing Jun Wang; Li Zhao; Cyrille Alexandre

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology; Agricultural and Biological Sciences; Immunology and Microbiology; Neuroscience; Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics

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