The last special issue on the PM was published in 2001 in Archives of Insect Biochemistry and Physiology through the symposium “Biological, Biochemical, and Molecular Properties of the Insect Peritrophic Membrane” convened during the XXI International Congress of Entomology held in Brazil in 2000. Since then, hundreds of studies have been reported on PM structure and functions. In particular, the molecular approaches have addressed many unknowns and provided various new insights into the PM research in the past two decades. A symposium titled “The Peritrophic Matrix: From Past to Future” was organized by Umut Toprak and Ping Wang at the 65th Annual Meeting of Entomological Society of America in Denver, US in 2017. This symposium covered a broad range of topics with the recent insights on the PM structure & function, using genomic, proteomic and RNAi-based approaches. Publication of the last special issue on PM research in 2001 and developments in the last 20 years encouraged us to compile this special issue on PM research. Both keynote speakers of the ESA-2017 Symposium and several other experts contributed research- and review-based papers in this issue. Contributers and title of their ms are:
- Kun Yan Zhu – “Biosynthesis, modifications and degradation of chitin in the formation and turnover of peritrophic matrix in insects”
- Dwayne D. Hegedus-“Peritrophic Matrix Formation”
- Walter R. Terra-“Domain structure and expression along the midgut and carcass of peritrophins and cuticle proteins analogous to peritrophins in insects with and without peritrophic membrane”
- Guy Smagghe-“The N-glycan profile of the peritrophic membrane in the Colorado potato beetle larva (Leptinotarsa decemlineata)”
- Qing Yang-“Biochemical characterization of three midgut chitin deacetylases of the Lepidopteran insect Bombyx mori”
- Martin A. Erlandson-“Role of the Peritrophic Matrix in Insect-Pathogen Interactions”
- Ping Wang-“Effects of disruption of the peritrophic membrane on larval susceptibility to Bt toxin Cry1Ac in cabbage loopers”
- Kotaro Konno-“The peritrophic membrane as a target of proteins that play important roles in plant defense and microbial attack”
- Aksoy Serap-“Tsetse Peritrophic Matrix Influences for Trypanosome Transmission”
The areas covered in this special issue are chitin metabolism, PM formation, PM proteins (peritrophins), PM protein glycosylation, roles of the peritrophic matrix in parasite transmission, interaction of the PM with pathogens and host plants, and the potential of PM as a target site for pest control. We wholeheartedly hope that this special issue would be a valuable contribution to the field of insect physiology, in particular for those working in the research field of the PM and insect midgut.
Umut Toprak, Ph.D., Ankara University, Turkey
Ping Wang, Ph.D., Cornell University, USA
Guy Smagghe, Ph.D., Ghent University, Belgium
September 9, 2019
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022191019303452
