Ovarian transcriptome analyses indicate that weak juvenile hormone signaling underlies the molecular basis of oogenesis deficiencies in mosquitoes

Abstract Background: Juvenile hormone (JH) is synthesized by the corpora allata (CA) and controls development and reproduction in insects. We recently used CRISPR/Cas9 to establish a line lacking the enzyme that catalyzes the final step of JH biosynthesis in mosquitoes, a P450 epoxidase. The CA of the epox−/− mutants do not synthesize epoxidized JH III but methyl farneosate (MF), a weak agonist of the JH receptor. Female epox−/− mosquitoes have reduced JH signaling and show a substantial loss of reproductive