Genetics and Genomics Commons^™

Short Germ Insects Utilize Both The Ancestral And Derived Mode Of Polycomb Group-Mediated Epigenetic Silencing Of Hox Genes, Yuji Matsuoka, Tetsuya Bando, Takahito Watanabe, Yoshiyasu Ishimaru, Sumihare Noji, Aleksander Popadic, Taro Mito

Biological Sciences Faculty Research Publications

In insect species that undergo long germ segmentation, such as Drosophila, all segments are specified simultaneously at the early blastoderm stage. As embryogenesis progresses, the expression boundaries of Hox genes are established by repression of gap genes, which is subsequently replaced by Polycomb group (PcG) silencing. At present, however, it is not known whether patterning occurs this way in a more ancestral (short germ) mode of embryogenesis, where segments are added gradually during posterior elongation. In this study, two members of the PcG family, Enhancer of zeste (E(z)) and Suppressor of zeste 12 (Su(z)12), were analyzed in the …

Genomic And Gene Regulatory Signatures Of Cryptozoic Adaptation: Loss Of Blue Sensitive Photoreceptors Through Expansion Of Long Wavelength-Opsin Expression In The Red Flour Beetle Tribolium Castaneum, Magdalena Jackowska, Riyue Bao, Zhenyi Liu, Elizabeth C. Mcdonald, Tiffany A. Cook, Markus Friedrich

Wayne State University Associated BioMed Central Scholarship

Abstract

Background

Recent genome sequence analysis in the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum indicated that this highly crepuscular animal encodes only two single opsin paralogs: a UV-opsin and a long wavelength (LW)-opsin; however, these animals do not encode a blue (B)-opsin as most other insects. Here, we studied the spatial regulation of the Tribolium single LW- and UV-opsin gene paralogs in comparison to that of the five opsin paralogs in the retina of Drosophila melanogaster.

Results

In situ hybridization analysis reveals that the Tribolium retina, in contrast with other insect retinas, constitutes a homogenous field of ommatidia that have seven …

Nymphal Rnai: Systemic Rnai Mediated Gene Knockdown In Juvenile Grasshopper, Ying Dong, Markus Friedrich

Wayne State University Associated BioMed Central Scholarship

Abstract

Background

Grasshopper serves as important model system in neuroscience, development and evolution. Representatives of this primitive insect group are also highly relevant targets of pest control efforts. Unfortunately, the lack of genetics or gene specific molecular manipulation imposes major limitations to the study of grasshopper biology.

Results

We investigated whether juvenile instars of the grasshopper species Schistocerca americana are conducive to gene silencing via the systemic RNAi pathway. Injection of dsRNA corresponding to the eye colour gene vermilion into first instar nymphs triggered suppression of ommochrome formation in the eye lasting through two instars equivalent to 10–14 days in …