Juvenile hormone III skipped bisepoxide is widespread in true bugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera).

Keiji Matsumoto,Hideharu Numata,Tetsuro Shinada,Toyomi Kotaki,Shin G Goto

doi:10.1098/rsos.202242

Abstract

Juvenile hormone (JH) plays important roles in almost every aspect of insect development and reproduction. JHs are a group of acyclic sesquiterpenoids, and their farnesol backbone has been chemically modified to generate a homologous series of hormones in some insect lineages. JH III (methyl farnesoate, 10,11-epoxide) is the most common JH in insects, but Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) and ‘higher’ Diptera (suborder: Brachycera; flies) have developed their own unique JHs. Although JH was first proposed in the hemipteran suborder Heteroptera (true bugs), the chemical identity of the heteropteran JH was only recently determined. Furthermore, recent studies revealed the presence of a novel JH, JH III skipped bisepoxide (JHSB3), in some heteropterans, but its taxonomic distribution remains largely unknown. In the present study, we investigated JHSB3 production in 31 heteropteran species, covering almost all heteropteran lineages, through ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. We found that all of the focal species produced JHSB3, indicating that JHSB3 is widespread in heteropteran bugs and the evolutionary occurrence of JHSB3 ascends to the common ancestor of Heteroptera.

Highlights

IntroductionHemiptera is the largest order of hemimetabolous insects comprising four suborders: Sternorrhyncha, Auchenorrhyncha (including the infraorders Cicadomorpha and Fulgoromorpha), Coleorrhyncha and Heteroptera [1,2,3]
Hemiptera is the largest order of hemimetabolous insects comprising four suborders: Sternorrhyncha, Auchenorrhyncha, Coleorrhyncha and Heteroptera [1,2,3]
We focused on the presence of 10S-JHSB3, which was recently identified as a heteropteran Juvenile hormone (JH) [17]

Summary

Introduction

Hemiptera is the largest order of hemimetabolous insects comprising four suborders: Sternorrhyncha, Auchenorrhyncha (including the infraorders Cicadomorpha and Fulgoromorpha), Coleorrhyncha and Heteroptera [1,2,3]. Heteroptera includes seven infraorders, i.e. Enicocephalomorpha, Dipsocoromorpha, Leptopodomorpha, Gerromorpha, Nepomorpha, Cimicomorpha and Pentatomomorpha [1,2]. Heteropterans have evolved diverse life histories and specialized morphological adaptations enabling them to colonize terrestrial, semiaquatic and aquatic habitats. Heteropterans exploit various food sources including plants, fungi and animals, including vertebrate blood [2,4]. Among the suborders of Hemiptera, Heteroptera is the most diversified, representing more than 45 000 described species [1]. Based on an estimated 1.55 million described species of animals, Heteroptera represents 2.9% of animal diversity [1,3]

Methods

Results

Conclusion