Distribution of tachykinin-related peptides in the brain of the tobacco budworm Heliothis virescens

Invertebrate tachykinin-related peptides (TKRPs) comprise a group of signaling molecules having sequence similarities to mammalian tachykinins. A growing body of evidence has demonstrated the presence of TKRPs in the central nervous system of insects. In this investigation, we used an antiserum against locustatachykinin-II to reveal the distribution pattern of these peptides in the brain of the moth Heliothis virescens. Immunolabeling was found throughout the brain of the heliothine moth. Most of the roughly 500 locustatachykinin-II immunoreactive cell bodies, that is, ca. 400, were located in the protocerebrum, whereas the rest was distributed in the deutocerebrum, tritocerebrum, and the gnathal ganglion. Abundant immunoreactive processes were located in the same regions. Labeled processes in the protocerebrum were especially localized in optic lobe, central body, lateral accessory lobe, superior protocerebrum, and lateral protocerebrum, while those in the deutocerebrum were present exclusively in the antennal lobe. In addition to brain interneurons, four pairs of median neurosecretory cells in the pars intercerebralis with terminal processes in the corpora cardiaca and aorta wall were immunostained. No sexual dimorphism in immunoreactivity was found. Comparing the data obtained here with findings from other insect species reveals considerable differences, suggesting species-specific roles of tachykinin-related peptides in insects.