Heat-shock response in a tropical Chironomus: seasonal variation in response and the effect of developmental stage and tissue type on heat shock protein synthesis

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Abstract
Examination of heat shock induced transcriptional activity in salivary gland polytene nuclei of a tropical Chironomus, C. striatipennis, revealed nine heat-shock puffs. In 24 °C-reared larvae optimal heat-shock response was seen at 39 °C, while a 41 °C shock was nearly lethal. In a population grown under natural conditions of seasonal variations, the heat-shock response was dependent upon the current ambient temperature. In summer months, response to 39 °C was variable, from complete to no induction of heat-shock puffs in different cells. In control glands from larvae growing at 33–36 °C in summer, heat-shock genes were not active, although in 24 °C-reared larvae, 33 °C already caused partial induction. Unlike the 24 °C-reared population, a 41 °C shock to summer larvae was not lethal. [35S]Methionine-labelled protein synthesis pattern in the summer larvae revealed appreciable accumulation of heat-shock polypeptides in control glands, which possibly autoregulates their further induction and also explains the better thermotolerance of these larvae. In a developmental study of a 24 °C-reared population, some heat-shock polypeptides were found to be commonly synthesized at 39 °C in all the tissues (salivary glands of larvae; Malpighian tubules of larvae, pupae, and adult; adult ovaries), while other heat-shock polypeptides showed apparent tissue and (or) developmental stage specificity. Heat shock protein 70 was most abundantly synthesized in all the tissues examined.Key words: temperature shock, thermotolerance, heat-shock polypeptides, polytene chromosomes, puffs.

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