Expression of the pupal determinant broad during metamorphic and neotenic development of the strepsipteran Xenos vesparum Rossi.

ABSTRACT: Derived members of the endoparasitic order Strepsiptera have acquired an extreme form of sexual dimorphism whereby males undergo metamorphosis and exist as free-living adults while females remain larviform, reaching sexual maturity within their hosts. Expression of the transcription factor, broad (br) has been shown to be required for pupal development in insects in which both sexes progress through metamorphosis. A surge of br expression appears in the last larval instar, as the epidermis begins pupal development. Here we ask if br is also up-regulated in the last larval instar of male Xenos vesparum Rossi (Stylopidae), and whether such expression is lost in neotenic larviform females. We clone three isoforms of br from X. vesparum (Xv'br), and show that they share greatest similarity to

SUBMITTER: Erezyilmaz DF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3977908 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature