ReviewThe role of octopamine in locusts and other arthropods
Section snippets
Evolutionary appearance of octopamine
Octopamine is one of the most abundant biogenic amines in the nervous system of invertebrates. It has been suggested that the phenolamines p-tyramine and octopamine which are found in high concentrations in Protostomes are functionally substituted by the catecholamines norepinephrine and epinephrine in higher Deuterostomes (Roeder, 1999, Blenau and Baumann, 2001, Blenau and Baumann, 2003, Pflüger and Stevenson, 2005). This assumption is supported by the similar chemical structure of these
Metabolic pathways – synthesis and degradation
An important criterion for messenger substances is that their concentrations are tightly regulated. A first regulation mechanism is the synthesis rate. The amino acid tyrosine is the starting point for the synthesis of both octopamine and its precursor, tyramine, which can also act independently as neurotransmitter (Lange, 2009). Tyrosine is transformed to tyramine by tyrosine decarboxylase (Livingstone and Tempel, 1983, Cole et al., 2005). Octopamine is then produced out of tyramine by
Distribution of octopamine in invertebrates
In the insect central nervous system, the great majority of all neurons occur as mirror image pairs. Exceptions are the efferent unpaired median neurons which seem to be involved in a multitude of specific activities and behaviours (for a review, see: Bräunig and Pflüger, 2001). Although exceptions exist, most efferent unpaired median neurons are octopaminergic (Orchard and Lange, 1985, Orchard, 1990, Stevenson and Pflüger, 1992, Monastirioti, 1999; for a review, see: Stevenson and
Physiology of octopamine
Octopamine is present in relatively high concentrations in neuronal as well as non-neuronal tissues of most invertebrate species studied and has a plethora of known functions. In the peripheral nervous system, octopamine modulates the activity and energy metabolism of flight muscles, peripheral organs (such as fat body, oviduct and hemocytes), and almost all sense organs (Goosey and Candy, 1980, Orchard and Lange, 1985, Orchard et al., 1993, Adamo et al., 1995). High levels of octopamine,
Role of octopamine in locust phase transition
In our test animal, S. gregaria, we are especially interested in the possible role of octopamine during the phase transition in which a harmless solitarious animal becomes a voracious pest insect. The first step in this process of gregarisation is a behavioural switch, which is crucial for further physiological and morphological change (for reviews, see Verlinden et al., 2009, Pener and Simpson, 2009). Serotonin was proven to be a critical factor in this behavioural change (Anstey et al., 2009
Receptor pharmacology
Similar to other biogenic amines, octopamine and tyramine function by binding to specific membrane proteins that are members of the seven transmembrane G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) superfamily, more specifically the rhodopsin-like family (Roeder, 1999, Blenau and Baumann, 2001). Insect octopamine receptors were originally classified on the basis of second messenger changes induced in a variety of intact tissue preparations (Evans, 1981, Roeder, 1990, Evans and Robb, 1993, Hiripi et al.,
Octopamine and tyramine receptors in locusts
Although the physiology and action mechanisms of octopamine and other biogenic amines were thoroughly investigated in both S. gregaria and Locusta migratoria (for a review, see Roeder, 2002), until recently only one aminergic receptor type was actually cloned and characterised in locusts. Vanden Broeck and co-workers successfully picked up a tyramine receptor (Tyr-Loc) in the migratory locust and functionally expressed it in both Drosophila Schneider 2 and murine erythroleukemia cells (Vanden
Concluding remarks
Although much work has already been performed, octopamine research promises to reveal important new insights into various fields in the future. Among these are control of behaviour, learning and memory, regulation of the immune response and orchestration of complex metabolic pathways. In addition, increasing evidence suggests that tyramine is a neuroactive chemical in its own right, with diverse physiological and behavioural roles (for reviews, see: Blenau and Baumann, 2003, Lange, 2009).
Acknowledgements
We gratefully acknowledge the German Research Foundation (GRK837), the Interuniversity Attraction Poles program (Belgian Science Policy Grant (P6/14), the Research Foundation of Flanders (FWO-Flanders) and the K.U. Leuven Research Foundation (GOA 2005/09) for financial support. H.V., R.V., E.M. and L.B. were supported by a Ph.D. fellowship of the IWT (Instituut voor de aanmoediging van Innovatie door wetenschap en technologie in Vlaanderen).
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2023, Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology - Part D: Genomics and ProteomicsRapid cold hardening delays the onset of anoxia-induced coma via an octopaminergic pathway in Locusta migratoria
2022, Journal of Insect PhysiologyCitation Excerpt :OA functions by binding to specific membrane proteins that are members of the G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) superfamily (Evans, 1981; Evans and Robb, 1993; Hiripi et al., 1994). The most recent classification of insect OctRs was based on the structural and signalling similarities of cloned D. melanogaster OctRs with vertebrate adrenergic receptors, thus insect OctRs have been grouped into three classes: (1) α-adrenergic-like receptors (OctαR), (2) β-adrenergic-like receptors (OctβR) and (3) octopamine/tyramine or tyramine receptors (TyrR) (Evans and Maqueira, 2005) (see review Verlinden et al., 2010). One well-known pathway of OA in the locust CNS is that an OctR is coupled with the Gs family of G-proteins causing disassociation of G-protein (Roeder and Gewecke, 1990; Roeder, 1992; Evans and Robb, 1993; Armstrong and Robertson, 2006).
Iron overload during the embryonic period develops hyperactive like behavior and dysregulation of biogenic amines in Drosophila melanogaster
2021, Developmental BiologyCitation Excerpt :Our results suggest that an overload of Fe during the embryonic developmental period of Drosophila melanogaster was able to modulate cerebral Fe metabolism and alter aminergic systems by raising brain levels of DA and 5-HT that play an essential role in controlling cognition, attention, are neuromodulators of motor behaviors and control the formation of memory and behavioral plasticity in the central nervous system (Raza and Su, 2019; Bacqué-Cazenave et al., 2020). OA is considered one of the main neurotransmitters and neurohormone of invertebrate species (Verlinden et al., 2010). However, OA showed no significant difference in its levels in relation to the control group and the groups exposed to Fe.
Collective motion as a distinct behavioral state of the individual
2021, iScienceCitation Excerpt :AKH is a metabolic neuropeptide principally known for its mobilization of energy substrates, notably lipid and trehalose, during energy-requiring activities such as flight and locomotion, and also during stress (e.g., Perić-Mataruga et al., 2006). It is well accepted that the metabolic state affects the level of general activity of an organism, and AKHs are reported to stimulate locomotor activity, either directly by way of their activity within the central nervous system (e.g., Wicher, 2007) or via octopamine—a biogenic amine with ample behavioral effects (Verlinden et al., 2010; Yang et al., 2015). Furthermore, as noted, we have demonstrated here an extended effect of the experience of collective motion.
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2020, Journal of Insect Physiology