Vitellogenesis in virgin and mated females of the mealworm beetle, Tenebrio molitor

Abstract

A comparison between vitellogenesis in virgin and mated females of Tenebrio molitor showed significant differences at each investigated evelopmental stage. Yolk protein deposition in oocytes, measured as an increase in their size parameters (length, width, and volume), proceeded much faster and was more efficient in mated females as compared to virgins. In fertilized females the gonadotropic cycle showed a cyclicity with an eight-day period while virgin females finish their vitellogenic stage after the first cycle. These differences were reflected in changes in the rate of protein synthesis in the fat body of females completing vitellogenesis or entering the next oogenetic cycle. In the haemolymph, in addition to a large (158 kDa) and two small (56 kDa and 45 kDa) subunits of vitellogenin, there was an abundance of proteins of 80 kDa and 60 kDa.