Vitellogenesis inhibition in Oncopeltus fasciatus females (Heteroptera: Lygaeidae) exposed to cadmium

Newly moulted females of the insect Oncopeltus fasciatus were exposed to cadmium (Cd) dissolved in the drinking water (50–400 mg l−1 Cd) for 5 days. Cd exposure delayed ovarian maturation and inhibited egg production. Exposure to Cd, moreover, decreased hemolymph levels of the two major vitellogenin polypeptides of O. fasciatus, VG1 and VG2, in a concentration-dependent way, probably by a reduction in their synthesis. The ovarian levels of VG1 and VG2 were also decreased in Cd-exposed females. It was next investigated whether Cd effects might be a consequence of the endocrine disruption of vitellogenin synthesis, which is controlled by juvenile hormone (JH). JH replacement therapy did not restore VG1 or VG2 levels in Cd-exposed females, but did so in starved females. Our results do not therefore support a disturbance of JH production or a reduction in feeding as the cause of the reduced vitellogenin polypeptide levels, but rather point to the site of action of JH, the JH receptor, as the target of Cd effects.