... patterning in earlyembryonic development and in the antimicrobial immune response in larvae and adults. We have investigated the function of Spa¨tzle in a lepidopteraninsect, Manduca sexta, in ... reported in other genes, such as human and Drosophila Gsa (the a-subunit of the guanine nucleotide-binding protein)isoforms [41,42].ProSpa¨tzle-1 mRNA was detected in hemocytes and fat bodies of ... and proteins,including attacin-1, cecropin-6, moricin, lysozyme, and the immunoglobulindomain protein hemolin, but did not significantly affect the expression of two bacteria-inducible pattern...