Morphological patterns of the heteropycnotic chromatin and nucleolar material in meiosis and spermiogenesis of some Pentatomidae (Heteroptera)

Hederson Vinicius De Souza,Luiz Antônio Alves Costa,Hermione Elly Melara De Campos Bicudo,Mary Massumi Itoyama,Márcia Maria Urbanin Castanhole

doi:10.1590/s1415-47572008000400014

Hederson Vinicius De Souza, Luiz Antônio Alves Costa + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/s1415-47572008000400014

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Abstract

Pentatomidae is a family of Heteroptera which includes several agriculture pests that have had different aspects of their meiosis and spermiogenesis analyzed. In the present study we analyzed the morphological patterns of the heteropycnotic chromatin and the nucleolar material of Mormidea v-luteum, Oebalus poecilus and Oebalus ypsilongriseus. The three species presented multilobate testes, with three lobes in M. v-luteum and four in the Oebalus species. A karyotype with 2n = 14 chromosomes (12A + XY) was observed in the three species. Several characteristics were common to the three species, such as the absence of a testicular harlequin lobe (a lobe which produces different types of spermatozoa, previously considered a general characteristic of this family), late migration of the sex chromosomes and semi-persistence of the nucleolus. The three species also shared some characteristics regarding the patterns of the heteropycnotic chromatin and nucleolar material, but differed in others mainly related to the location of the heteropycnotic chromatin in the spermatids and the morphology and distribution of the nucleolar material at zygotene. The differences were always between species from different genera, suggesting a relationship with their genetic divergence.

Highlights

Most Heteroptera feed on plantations or grains stored for human consumption during their nymph and adult stages, causing great economical losses
The three species presented multilobed testes covered by a reddish membrane
The term heterochromatin includes some characteristics which were not analyzed in this study and we use ‘heteropycnotic’ or ‘condensed chromatin’ to refer to the regions that are more intensely stained by lacto-acetic orcein

Summary

Introduction

Most Heteroptera feed on plantations or grains stored for human consumption during their nymph and adult stages, causing great economical losses. Heteroptera includes approximately 37,000 species distributed in eight infraorders, five of which contain noxious species (Rebagliati et al, 2005). The family Pentatomidae (infraorder Pentatomorpha), with eight subfamilies (Asopinae, Cyrtocorinae, Discocephalinae, Edessinae, Pentatominae, Phyllocephalinae, Podopinae and Serbaninae) and 4,112 species is among them (Schaefer and Panizzi, 2000). They include the “stink bugs” called due to their unpleasant smell produced by a gland that opens up in the metapleural region. There are reports of this type of lobe in 15 genera from three Pentatomidae subfamilies (Discocephalinae, Edessinae and Pentatominae) (Rebagliati et al, 2005)

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