Starvation-, thermal- and heavy metal- associated expression of four small heat shock protein genes in Musca domestica.

In this study, starvation-, thermal- and heavy metal-associated expression of four small Musca domestica HSPs (abbreviated as MdomHSPs and they are MdomHSP10, MdomHSP27, MdomHSP27.1 and MdomHSP27.2) were determined. The following results were found: All MdomHSPs were significantly higher expressed during the active larval and adult stages than the egg and pupal stages; All MdomHSPs were expressed at relatively equal levels in the head, thorax and abdomen of adults; The expression of MdomHSP27 was significantly down-regulated in 4-day-old larvae that were starved for 6h, while the other 3 MdomHSPs were not significantly affected; Thermal treatment altered the expression of MdomHSPs in 4-day-old larvae: MdomHSP10 was significantly down-regulated in 4-day-old larvae that were maintained at 4°C and 37°C than in those that were maintained at 25°C; Lead, cadmium and chromium exposure influenced larval expression of MdomHSPs to varying degrees. The expression dynamic profile of MdomHSPs would contribute to the understanding of their physiological role in M. domestica.