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Evidence for the temporal regulation of insect segmentation by a conserved sequence of transcription factors

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Clark, EA 
Peel, Andrew 

Abstract

Long-germ insects, such as the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, pattern their segments simultaneously, whereas short-germ insects, such as the beetle Tribolium castaneum, pattern their segments sequentially, from anterior to posterior. While the two modes of segmentation at first appear quite distinct, much of this difference might simply reflect developmental heterochrony. We now show here that, in both Drosophila and Tribolium, segment patterning occurs within a common framework of sequential Caudal, Dichaete, and Odd-paired expression. In Drosophila these transcription factors are expressed like simple timers within the blastoderm, while in Tribolium they form wavefronts that sweep from anterior to posterior across the germband. In Drosophila, all three are known to regulate pair-rule gene expression and influence the temporal progression of segmentation. We propose that these regulatory roles are conserved in short-germ embryos, and that therefore the changing expression profiles of these genes across insects provide a mechanistic explanation for observed differences in the timing of segmentation. In support of this hypothesis we demonstrate that Odd-paired is essential for segmentation in Tribolium, contrary to previous reports.

Description

Keywords

Drosophila, Gene regulatory network, Pair-rule genes, Patterning, Segmentation, Tribolium

Journal Title

Development

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0950-1991
1477-9129

Volume Title

145

Publisher

The Company of Biologists
Sponsorship
BBSRC (1221578)
Isaac Newton Trust (1624(f))
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/P009336/1)