Double abdomen in a short-germ insect: Zygotic control of axis formation revealed in the beetle Tribolium castaneum.

ABSTRACT: The distinction of anterior versus posterior is a crucial first step in animal embryogenesis. In the fly Drosophila, this axis is established by morphogenetic gradients contributed by the mother that regulate zygotic target genes. This principle has been considered to hold true for insects in general but is fundamentally different from vertebrates, where zygotic genes and Wnt signaling are required. We investigated symmetry breaking in the beetle Tribolium castaneum, which among insects represents the more ancestral short-germ embryogenesis. We found that maternal Tc-germ cell-less is required for anterior localization of maternal Tc-axin, which represses Wnt signaling and promotes expression of anterior zygotic genes. Both RNAi targeting Tc-germ cell-less

SUBMITTER: Ansari S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5828605 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature