Insect Lipid Metabolism

Lipids are the primary energy sources in animals, and serve as the major reserve to meet the energy demand for reproduction, diapause, starvation, and prolonged periods of flight in insects. Insect Lipid Metabolism, First Edition supplies a comprehensive and fundamental background on insect lipid metabolism. The book is intended as a principal source for students and scientists in the biological sciences who need to possess from basic to a detailed knowledge on insect lipid metabolism.

The book contains 21 chapters opening with an introductory chapter on insect lipids. The following chapters focus on the structure, function, and metabolism of lipids in organs such as midgut, fat body and cuticle, as well as the endocrine and transcriptional regulation of lipid metabolism. Aspects of lipid metabolism in relation to calcium homeostasis, carbohydrate metabolism, aging, sleep, starvation, diapause, reproduction, circadian rhythm, flight, infection, parasitism, vector-borne diseases, cold hardening and phytophagy together with “omics” approaches are also featured. Finally, the book covers the potential of lipid metabolism as a target for pest control, and the use of insects to study human lipid metabolism disorders.