Effects of stress on the hemolymph juvenile hormone binding protein titers of Manduca sexta

External stressors disrupt physiological homeostasis; in insects, the response to stress may result in delayed development as the animal attempts to restore homeostasis before proceeding with its complex life cycle. Previous studies have demonstrated that exposure to stress leads to increased levels of the juvenile hormone (JH), a hormone responsible for maintaining the insect larval state. In Manduca sexta, JH is transported to target tissue by a high-affinity binding protein, hemolymph JH binding protein (hJHBP). Since JH titers are elevated in stressed Manduca, we examined levels of hJHBP to better understand (1) the role of JH in regulating hJHBP levels and (2) the hJHBP-regulated bioavailability of hormone at the target site. Fourth stadium Manduca (48 h post-ecdysis) were exposed for 24 h to various stressors including nutritional deprivation, microbial infection, cutaneous injury, episodic movement, and temperature elevation. Insects raised on diets lacking nutritional content exhibited mean hJHBP levels that were less than half (45%) those of control insects. Similarly, insects injected with Escherichia coli demonstrated a 47% reduction in hJHBP titers. Cutaneous injury, episodic movement, and temperature elevation lowered hJHBP levels by 47%, 43%, and 38%, respectively. Total hemolymph protein concentration was not affected. After a stress event (injury), a 50% reduction in abundance of fat body hJHBP mRNA was observed within 4 h; hJHBP levels did not drop until 24 h after injury. Stress in the fourth stadium was manifest in fifth instars, with 100% of the injured insects displaying an extended larval stadium or failing to pupate. Computational modeling of the JH-hJHBP interaction indicates that unbound JH doubles in stressed insects. These results indicate that in response to stress larval hJHBP titers are significantly reduced, increasing JH bioavailability at the target site and thereby impacting development and survival of the insect. Treatment of unstressed insects with physiological doses of JH I did not affect hJHBP levels, suggesting that elevated JH levels were not solely responsible for the observed down-regulation in stressed insects.