Lepidopteran scale cells derive from sensory organ precursors through a canonical lineage.

ABSTRACT: The success of butterflies and moths is tightly linked to the origin of scales within the group. A long-standing hypothesis postulates that scales are homologous to the well-described mechanosensory bristles found in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, as both derive from an epithelial precursor. Previous histological and candidate gene approaches identified parallels in genes involved in scale and bristle development. Here, we provide developmental and transcriptomic evidence that the differentiation of lepidopteran scales derives from the sensory organ precursor (SOP). Live imaging in lepidopteran pupae shows that SOP cells undergo two asymmetric divisions that first abrogate the neurogenic lineage, and then lead to a differentiated scale precursor and its associated socket cell. Sing

SUBMITTER: Loh LS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11925400 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature