Brownie, a gene involved in building complex respiratory devices in insect eggshells.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Insect eggshells must combine protection for the yolk and embryo with provisions for respiration and for the entry of sperm, which are ensured by aeropyles and micropyles, respectively. Insects which oviposit the eggs in an egg-case have a double problem of respiration as gas exchange then involves two barriers. An example of this situation is found in the cockroach Blattella germanica, where the aeropyle and the micropyle are combined in a complex structure called the sponge-like body. The sponge-like body has been well described morphologically, but nothing is known about how it is built up.

Methodology/principal findings

In a library designed to find genes expressed during late chorion formation in B. germanica, we isolated the novel sequence Bg30009 (now calle

SUBMITTER: Irles P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2792769 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature