Research lines
The main goal of this lab is to understand how nutrition regulates key physiological processes in insects. Thus, its main interest lies in unravelling how the insulin receptor pathway controls reproduction, and also how insects regulate the expression of insulin-like peptides (ILPs), the putative effectors of the signalling pathway. In addition to this, the Nutritional Signals in Insects lab, in collaboration with the Insect Reproduction Lab, studies how interference RNA (RNAi) works in insects, the enzymes involved and their functions and the mechanisms of production and selection of the small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) that are generated.
Lab website: Maestro Lab
Principal Investigator
Ongoing projects
Publications
Rubio, M.; Maestro, J.L., Piulachs, M.D.; Belles, X. (2018) Conserved association of Argonaute 1 and 2 proteins with miRNA and siRNA pathways throughout insect evolution, from cockroaches to flies. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta - Gene Regulatory Mechanisms. 1861(6):554-560 doi: 10.1016/j.bbagrm.2018.04.001
Dominguez C.V.; Maestro J.L. 2018. Expression of juvenile hormone acid O-methyltransferase and juvenile hormone synthesis in Blattella germanica. Insect Science. 25(5):787-796 doi: 10.1111/1744-7917.12467
Rahman, M.M.;Franch-Marro, X.;Maestro, J.L.;Martin, D.;Casali, A. 2017. Local Juvenile Hormone activity regulates gut homeostasis and tumor growth in adult Drosophila. Scientific Reports . 7:Article number: 11677