P r e f a c e

PAPERS SELECTED FROM THEINTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ONINSECT PHYSIOLOGY

The papers presented in this Special Issue were originally presented at theInternational Symposium on Insect Physiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology,held at Shandong University, Jinan, China in September, 2007. The symposium wasattended by more than 120 insect scientists, with speakers from China, Japan and theU.S. Because of its growing international stature, the entire symposium was conductedin English.

Prior to the Symposium speakers were invited to submit abstracts of papers forpossible publication in Archives. The abstracts were screened and over a dozenspeakers were invited to submit full manuscripts. The manuscripts were subjected tothe usual review scrutiny, revision and re-review as necessary. About 15 papers fromthe Symposium will be published in three issues of Archives. This will be the secondSpecial Issue, with a Third forthcoming.

These papers represent the broad spectrum of insect science presented at theSymposium. In this issue, Shi et al. (from X.X. Chen’s lab) report on the influence ofparsitization by two parasitoid species on expression of a trypsin gene in midguts ofPlutella xylostella. They found that parasitization by Diadegma semiclausum did not alterexpression of the gene or trypsin activity in host larvae. However, parasitization byCotesia vestalis led to higher expression of the gene and to higher enzyme activity. Theauthors interpreted these results in terms of host manipulation by parasitoid larvae.

Zhang et al. from Yongping Huang’s laboratory report on the up-regulation of alysozyme gene in the cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera. For this work they isolatedand characterized a cDNA encoding a lysozyme gene termed HaLyz. They found thegene was transiently up-regulated at the beginning of metamorphosis as well as aftermicrobial infection.

Y. Huang et al. from Qili Feng’s lab in Guangzhou present new information onglutathione S-transferases in the spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana. Theycloned two cDNAs from a library constructed from the midgut cell line, CF-203. Thetwo cDNAs encoded two structurally different proteins. Working with larvae, theyfound different expression patterns for the two genes. Notably, expression of one genewas slightly suppressed in insects treated with the ecdysone agonist RH5992. Theauthors raised the interesting question of why these genes are highly expressed indifferent tissues if their major function is not detoxification.

ARCHIVES OF INSECT BIOCHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY, Vol. 70, No. 1, 1–2 (2009)

Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com).

& 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. DOI: 10.1002/arch.20293

S.-F. Bai et al., also from X.X. Chen’s laboratory contribute another study ofparasitization in the P. xylostella system, this time considering the mechanism ofparasitic castration of male hosts by C. vestalis and D. semiclausum. They irradiatedfemale parasitoids to make the wasp eggs infertile to produce pseudoparasitization.They studied the influence of pseudoparasitization by both parasitoids on spermato-genesis and testicular proteins in male hosts. Finding that pseudoparasitization by bothparasitoids led to severe parasitic castration, the authors concluded that other factors,polydnavirus and venom, play major roles in the castration process. Working theviruses, the authors also noted that the C. vestalis bracovirus exerted strongercastration effects, compared to the D. semiclausum ichnovirus.

Finally, Parthasarathy and Palli investigated the molecular mechanisms of juvenilehormone analog (JHA) disruption of development in the red flour beetle, Triboliumcastaneum. JHA treatments led to considerable alterations in gene expression.Expression of the transcription factor BROAD was suppressed while expression ofother genes involved in ecdysteroid actions were up-regulated. The JHA alsointerrupted midgut remodeling by inhibited the normal apoptosis events in larvalmidgut cells. The authors concluded that the actions of JHA in midgut metamorphosismay be conserved in holometabolous insects.

We are pleased to present this second Special Issue of Archives based on theInternational Symposium in Jinan. This Symposium was supported by NationalNatural Science Foundation of China (No. 30710303035), Shandong Association forScience and Technology, and Shandong University. The next Symposium will convenein a beautiful tourist city, Chengde, Hebei Province, China in September 2009.Chengde, once the summer resort capital of the Qing Dynasty, is just 140 milesnortheast of Beijing. It is our pleasure to invite all interested readers to participate.

Guest EditorsXiao-Fan ZhaoJinan, Shandong

Qisheng SongColumbia, MO

2 � Archives of Insect Biochemistry and Physiology, January 2009

Archives of Insect Biochemistry and Physiology DOI: 10.1002/arch