Evidence against a germ plasm in the milkweed bug Oncopeltus fasciatus, a hemimetabolous insect.

ABSTRACT: Primordial germ cell (PGC) formation in holometabolous insects like Drosophila melanogaster relies on maternally synthesised germ cell determinants that are asymmetrically localised to the oocyte posterior cortex. Embryonic nuclei that inherit this "germ plasm" acquire PGC fate. In contrast, historical studies of basally branching insects (Hemimetabola) suggest that a maternal requirement for germ line genes in PGC specification may be a derived character confined principally to Holometabola. However, there have been remarkably few investigations of germ line gene expression and function in hemimetabolous insects. Here we characterise PGC formation in the milkweed bug Oncopeltus fasciatus, a member of the sister group to Holometabola, thus providing an important evolutionary comparison to

SUBMITTER: Ewen-Campen B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3683158 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature