Identification and functional characterization of allatostatin neuropeptides and their cognate receptors

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Managing the insect pest problem in Canadian forestry and agriculture is a key economic, health and environmental issue for Canada. Replacing current chemical controls with more environmentally benign biological treatments is based on understanding the biology of the organism. For example, how do insects change from one form to another as they grow? What controls how females produce eggs? How do chemical signals from the brain control maturation and reproduction. What controls an insect's choice between staying in one location to feed or travel long distances. What controls the age of an organism? The answer to all of these questions is related, in part, to chemicals known as hormones. Specifically, juvenile hormone (JH) is responsible for keeping an insect in a young stage. If the amount of JH is high in an insect's blood, the insect will not change from one form to another (for instance, a caterpillar won't transform into a butterfly). If JH is present in female adults, eggs will mature. The level of JH in the insect blood controls other insect behaviours, such as migration and aging. If we could understand all the steps that are required to change the level of JH in the insect blood, we could inhibit egg production in insect pests, leading towards an environmentally safe insect control agent. Training of high quality personnel in new alternative control strategies is vital to this cause.