The fly and the beetle: what can insects tell us about kidney function and control?

In multicellular animals, the regulation of the internal milieu by maintaining constant levels of ions, water, nutrients and waste in the body is controlled by the kidney. In insects which is the most species-rich group on the planet kidney function is maintained by the renal (Malpighian) tubule, which is capable of moving their own volume of water every six seconds. This makes the insect tubules the fastest secreting epithelia in biology! In addition, whereas the human kidney that is structurally complex and opaque, insect renal tubules are transparent and readily accessible, making them the ideal systems to study the fundamental biology off how epithelia function.

In this presentation, I will talk about how we combine molecular genetics and classical physiology to understand insect renal function and control using the genetic model organisms Drosophila melanogaster (common fruit fly) and Tribolium castaneum (red flour beetle). Specifically I will discuss our most recent avenues of research, such as how we can use Drosophila to model human kidney disease, why synthetic insect hormones may become the next generation of insecticides, and how beetles are able to drink with their anus.