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First published online February 1, 2008
Journal of Experimental Biology 211, 548-554 (2008)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2008
doi: 10.1242/jeb.009233

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Cuticular hydrocarbons as maternal provisions in embryos and nymphs of the cockroach Blattella germanica

Yongliang Fan, Dorit Eliyahu and Coby Schal^*

Department of Entomology and W. M. Keck Center for Behavioral Biology, Box 7613, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695 7613, USA

View larger version (15K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig. 1. Changes in hydrocarbons of embryos and nymphs of B. germanica. Hydrocarbons of the ovaries and exterior and interior of the egg case (A), and exterior and interior of 40 first-instar nymphs (B) (the equivalent of one egg case) and 40 second-instar nymphs (C) were extracted and quantified by gas chromatography. Data are means ± s.e.m. (N=7). Some s.e.m. are obscured by the symbols. Significant differences among means in A are represented by different letters (ANOVA, LSD, P<0.05) and in B and C by asterisks (paired t-test, P<0.05).

View larger version (13K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig. 2. In vitro hydrocarbon biosynthesis by embryos (A), first-instar nymphs (B) and newly molted second-instar nymphs (C) of B. germanica. Forty embryos in a single egg case or 40 individual nymphs were bisected with a sharp razor and incubated for 3 h in a medium fortified with sodium [1-14C]propionate. The tissues and medium were extracted in chloroform/methanol/water and the hydrocarbons were then purified on silica gel and quantified by LSS. Data are means ± s.e.m. (N=8).

View larger version (20K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig. 3. Maternal transfer of hydrocarbons to oocytes and the fate of radiolabeled hydrocarbons in embryos and first- and second-instar nymphs. Vitellogenic day-3 females were injected with [1-14C]propionate (A) or [3H]3,11-dimethylnonacosane (B), and radiolabeled hydrocarbons were then extracted, purified and quantified on the external surface and internal tissues of the mothers, egg cases (and embryos) and nymphs. Data are normalized to show percentages of the total radiolabeled hydrocarbons in the mother and her offspring. Data are means ± s.e.m. (N=5–8). Significant differences among means within a series are represented by different letters (ANOVA, LSD, P<0.05) and between internal and external hydrocarbons of nymphs by asterisks (paired t-test, P<0.05).

View larger version (8K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig. 4. TLC profiles of lipid extracts showing that >95% of the radioactivity is associated with hydrocarbons. Aliquots of extracts in Fig. 3A were combined for each age group.

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