Alternative sites for ecdysteroid production in insects

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Abstract
Several evidences have been obtained in various insect species demonstrating that, besides prothoracic glands and ovaries, other tissues could be alternative sites of moulting hormone production. After a detailed review on the various methods of investigation and criteria required to validate such observations, the nature of these sites, namely oenocytes, epidermis and testes, is discussed. Their possible involvement in moulting and/or reproduction is analyzed, giving the opportunity to put forward several new hypotheses. In particular, autocrine and paracrine secretions of ecdysteroids could play a role in localized developmental events, more difficult to control from endocrine glands possibly mitosis, meiosis, reprogramming, regeneration or early steps of embryogenesis).

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