Purinergic reception by culicine mosquitoes.

1. Adult female Culex pipiens and Culiseta inornata have purinergic receptors that respond to extracellular ADP and related compounds. Stimulation of these receptors caused ingestion of artificial diets. Addition of bicarbonate to the saline solvent enhanced the phagostimulatory effect. Saline-bicarbonate was as effective a solvent as blood plasma for Cx. pipiens, and was used in the dose-effect determinations. Ranking of the potencies was: ADP greater than AMP-PNP greater than ATP = AMP greater than AMP-PCP much greater than 2'dAMP greater than 2'dADP greater than 2'dATP. At 1 mM concentration, ITP, GTP, CTP, UTP, c-AMP, 2'AMP, 3'AMP, DPG, or GSH + glucose caused fewer than 50% of the insects to gorge, as did 2'3'dd-ATP, A tetra P, and AMP-CPP at 100 microM. 2. The potency ranking for Cu. inornata was: ADP greater than AMP-PNP greater than ATP greater than AMP-PCP much greater than AMP much greater than AMP-S. The concentrations required to produce the ED50 response (inducing 50% of the test insects to gorge) were much higher than those required for Cx. pipiens; however, saline, not saline-bicarbonate, was used as the solvent. With the exception of the very low potency of AMP for Cu. inornata, the ADP potency index values for the other chemicals tested on both species are similar.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)