Microscopic Evaluations of Differences Between Synchronous and Asynchronous Insect Flight Muscles
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Date
2013-07-19
Authors
Crowe, Mary E
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Abstract
Projectin and mp20, protein components of insect muscle are under investigation for their role in muscle contraction. Many studies in <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i> flight muscles indicate that projectin is found between the Z and I band regions, whereas mp20 is totally absent. In this study we used locations reported in <i>D. melanogaster</i> as a model to investigate the location of the projectin epitopes and mp20 in <i>Danaus plexippus</i> (monarch butterfly), <i>Manduca sexta</i> (tobacco hornworm moth), <i>Apis mellifera</i> (bee) and <i>Acheta domesticus</i> (cricket). All insects listed apart from <i>A. mellifera</i> have flight muscles with properties different from <i>D. melanogaster</i>. Using indirect immunofluorescence microscopy (IMF), the protein locations were studied in each insect model, and confocal micrographs were obtained. Also, RT-PCR data were collected to determine the presence or absence of mp20 in the cricket and bee. Data suggest that the projectin location in the three insect models appears to agree with the predictions from <i>D. melanogaster</i>. Our data show that the location of mp20 depends on the muscle types, but not the physiological nature (synchronous or asynchronous).
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Keywords
Projectin, mp20, Synchronous, Asynchronous