Myotropic effects of FMRFamide containing peptides on the heart of the mosquito Anopheles gambiae》.pdf

General and Comparative Endocrinology 202 (2014) 15–25 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect General and Comparative Endocrinology journal homepage: www.else /locate/ygcen Myotropic effects of FMRFamide containing peptides on the heart of the mosquito Anopheles gambiae Julián F. Hillyer ⇑, Tania Y. Estévez-Lao, Lauren E. de la Parte Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Article history: FMRFamide-like peptides (FLPs) are produced by invertebrate and vertebrate animals, and regulate Received 8 January 2014 diverse physiological processes. In insects, several FLPs modulate heart physiology, with some increasing Revised 19 March 2014 and others decreasing dorsal vessel contraction dynamics. Here, we describe the FMRFamide gene Accepted 27 March 2014 structure in the mosquito, Anopheles gambiae , quantify the developmental and spatial expression of Available online 18 April 2014 FMRFamide and its putative receptor (FMRFamideR ), and show that the peptides FMRFamide and SALDKNFMRFamide have complex myotropic properties. RACE sequencing showed that the FMRFamide Keywords: gene encodes eight putative FLPs and is alternatively spliced. Of the eight FLPs, only one is shared by A. FMRFamide gambiae , Aedes aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus: SALDKNF