.png)
Student 10-Minute Presentation
Physiology, Biochemistry, and Toxicology
Student
Student Competition
Yibo Gu
Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan
Shilpi Mohanty
Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan
Loren Campbell
Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan
Taylor Hori
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Michigan State University
San Diego, California
Zhuo Chen
Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan
Henry Chung
Assistant Professor
Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan
Zinan Wang (he/him/his)
Assistant professor
University of Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky
Insects produce a large number of offspring to ensure the continuation of their species. They also exhibit differential activities between life stages, i.e., the larva focuses on feeding and nutrient uptake, while the adult focuses on mating and reproduction. Successfully obtaining and storing enough nutrients at the larval stage, especially for micronutrients such as zinc, is extremely important for reproduction during the adult stage. Zinc is an essential metal involved in reproduction in almost all organisms but is usually present at a low level in the natural environment. However, it is unclear how insect juveniles acquire enough zinc. The use of metallothionein genes has been reported in mammals for chelating, buffering, and storing zinc at the cellular level. We hypothesized that the use of a zinc-related metallothionein gene could be a mechanism for zinc storage which can be used for reproduction. To test this hypothesis, we characterized the function of a potential zinc-related metallothionein gene, MtnF, that we recently reported in Drosophila and other dipteran species. We showed that MtnF is expressed in the digestive and reproductive systems, and the knockout of MtnF in D. melanogaster leads to a zinc-sensitive phenotype and substantial loss of fertility in older flies of both sexes. We will investigate whether MtnF affects the development of gametes and how this gene determines the fertility of insects. Our study will reveal a mechanism underlying how insects deal with the scarcity of essential micronutrients in their habitats and maintain successful reproduction.