Skip to main content
ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Hilo, Hawaii » Daniel K. Inouye U.S. Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center » Tropical Crop and Commodity Protection Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #183208

Title: THE INFLUENCE OF HEAT SHOCK PROTEINS IN INSECT PESTS AND FRUITS IN THERMAL TREATMENTS

Author
item LURIE, S - ARO, VOLCANI CTR
item Jang, Eric

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/10/2006
Publication Date: 2/7/2007
Citation: Lurie, S., Jang, E.B. 2007. The Influence of Heat Shock Proteins in Insect Pests and Fruits in Thermal Treatments. pp 269-290 (in J.Tang, E. Mitcham, S. Wang and S. Lurie eds) Heat Treatments for Postharvest Pest Control. CABI International, UK. 349 pp.

Interpretive Summary: This chapter reviews the influence heat treatments and heat shock proteins on the insect pests that undergo heat treatments for commodity disinfestation. Most insects produce heat shock proteins in response to thermal stress. This response often will help organisms sub normal temperatures although in extreme cases does not protect organisms against death. The chapter discusses the heat shock response and how it will affect both the commodity and the insect pest which often infest fruit fruits and vegetables.

Technical Abstract: The response of organisms to high temperature stress has been widely researched since the heat shock response was first observed in Drosophila. The heat shock phenomenon is characterized by dramatic and rapid changes in both transcription and translation with the onset of heat stress. The heat shock response occurs in all organisms ranging from bacteria and lower eukaryotes to mammals and plants. The heat shock response is evolutionarily highly conserved. The level of amino acid identity between all prokaryotic and eukaryotic hsp70 proteins, for example, approaches 50%. This conservation suggests that the response is an essential function of functions for survival of organisms exposed to excessively high temperatures.