Effects of actinomycin D on development in pupae of Tenebrio molitor.

Abstract

Ilan, Ilan and Quastel have reported1 that modified adults emerge when 0.16 μg of actinomycin D is injected into the pupae of Tenebrio molitor at any time during the pupal period. The duration of pupation is said to be unaffected. The adults which emerge are reported to have an adult head and thorax, but the abdomen has pupal gin traps, urogomphi and pupal cuticle on the posterior segments. Injected pupae do not develop wings. The interest in the effects of actinomycin D on development stems from the way in which the drug is known to interfere with DNA dependent RNA synthesis. The pupal development of insects must involve the transcription of the genetic information coded in DNA into the specific proteins of the various tissues by the formation of messenger RNA (mRNA). Ilan et al. interpret their observations by supposing that the mRNA for the development of the head and thorax is present from the first day of pupation and that abdominal development is sensitive to actinomycin D until the last day of the pupal period.