Carminic acid dye from the homopteran Dactylopius coccus hemolymph is consumed during treatment with different microbial elicitors

Abstract

The activation of Dactylopius coccus (Costa) hemolymph with microbial polysaccharide molecules was studied. Hemolymph incubated in the presence of laminarin, zymosan, and N-acetyl glucosamine produced a dark fibrillar precipitated, and the red pigment (carminic acid) was consumed (measured spectrophotometrically at 495 nm). Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) did not induce any response. The reaction was inhibited with millimolar concentrations of serine and cysteine protease inhibitors, EGTA and phenyl thiourea. It was also diminished by prostaglandin synthesis inhibitors: dexamethasone, acetylsalicylic acid, and indomethacin. However, Mg2+ chelator EDTA did not inhibit hemolymph activation. Hemolymph proteins were depleted from soluble phase during treatment with laminarin, but a group of around 34 kDa remained unmodified. These results showed that D. coccus hemolymph is activated by microbial elicitors, its activation depends on eicosanoids, and suggest participation of a prophenoloxidase (PPO)-like activation system that could consume carminic acid. We are currently dissecting the molecular factors involved in D. coccus hemolymph activation to determine homologies and differences with other arthropods immune response pathways.

Survival after experimental manipulation in the territorial damselfly Hetaerina titia (Odonata: Calopterygidae): more ornamented males are not more pathogen resistant

“…The third consideration is that it is fat reserves what ultimately would play a role and not necessarily wing pigmentation. Apparently this is the case, as lipidic reserves may intervene in insect immune function (Hernández-Hernández et al 2003). The fact that, in this ) and other related species (Contreras-Garduño et al 2006;Serrano-Meneses et al 2007), fat reserves closely correlate with wing pigmentation patterns allows the use of this latter trait as the indicator and predictor of both survival and energetic status.…”

Free radical generation during the activation of hemolymph prepared from the homopteran Dactylopius coccus

“…3). This observation, added to the inhibition of D. coccus hemolymph clotting with phenylthiourea (PTU) (a phenoloxidase competitive inhibitor), serine protease, and eicosanoid biosynthesis inhibitors (Hernández-Hernández et al, 2003) and the oxidation of commercially available carmine by mushroom tyrosinase of Agaricus bisporus (Fig. 5), indicate that a phenoloxidase-like enzyme might be involved in anthraquinone oxidation and O -2 generation.…”

“…We have recently observed that during the activation of D. coccus hemolymph with laminarin, zymosan, and N-acetyl glucosamine, a dark fibrillar precipitate was produced and the red pigment (carminic acid dye) was consumed (Hernández-Hernández et al, 2003). Hemolymph proteins are depleted from the soluble phase during treatment with laminarin, but a group of proteins around 34 kDa remained unmodified.…”

Isolation and Identification of Saprolegnia Sp from Fresh Water Aquarium Fishes and the Hemolymph Immune Response of Dactylopus coccus Costa de 1835 (Homoptera: Coccoidea: Dactylopidae) against this Oomycete

“…The strain isolated in our experiments was classified as Saprolegnia sp. by morphological criteria due to the presence of cenocitic hyphae, absence of oogonia (sexual stage) and the presence of all the asexual stages such as: zoosporangium, zoospores and cyst in laboratory conditions as reported for this genus by Burr and Beakes, Mortada et al, Gunnar and Cerenius [24][25][26].…”