|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
| Home Help Feedback Subscriptions Archive Search Table of Contents | ||||
Development, Vol 122, Issue 11 3419-3432, Copyright © 1996 by Company of Biologists
JOURNAL ARTICLES |
BT Rogers and TC Kaufman
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Indiana University, Bloomington 47405, USA.
The structure of the insect head has long been a topic of enjoyable yet endless debate among entomologists. More recently geneticists and molecular biologists trying to better understand the structure of the head of the Dipteran Drosophila melanogaster have joined the discourse extrapolating from what they have learned about Drosophila to insects in general. Here we present the results of an investigation into the structure of the insect head as revealed by the distribution of engrailed related protein (Engrailed) in the insect orders Diptera, Siphonaptera, Orthoptera and Hemiptera. The results of this comparative embryology in conjunction with genetic experiments on Drosophila melanogaster lead us to conclude: (1) The insect head is composed of six Engrailed accumulating segments, four postoral and two preoral. The potential seventh and eighth segments (clypeus or labrum) do not accumulate Engrailed. (2) The structure known as the dorsal ridge is not specific to the Diptera but is homologous to structures found in other insect orders. (3) A part of this structure is a single segment-like entity composed of labial and maxillary segment derivatives which produce the most anterior cuticle capable of taking a dorsal fate. The segments anterior to the maxillary segment produce only ventral structures. (4) As in Drosophila, the process of segmentation of the insect head is fundamentally different from the process of segmentation in the trunk. (5) The pattern of Engrailed accumulation and its presumed role in the specification and development of head segments appears to be highly conserved while its role in other pattern formation events and tissue-specific expression is variable. An overview of the pattern of Engrailed accumulation in developing insect embryos provides a basis for discussion of the generality of the parasegment and the evolution of Engrailed patterns.
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  T. D. Shippy, C. D. Rogers, R. W. Beeman, S. J. Brown, and R. E. Denell The Tribolium castaneum Ortholog of Sex combs reduced Controls Dorsal Ridge Development Genetics, September 1, 2006; 174(1): 297 - 307. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 W. Pereanu and V. Hartenstein Neural lineages of the Drosophila brain: a three-dimensional digital atlas of the pattern of lineage location and projection at the late larval stage. J. Neurosci., May 17, 2006; 26(20): 5534 - 5553. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 L. K. Robertson, D. B. Bowling, J. P. Mahaffey, B. Imiolczyk, and J. W. Mahaffey An interactive network of zinc-finger proteins contributes to regionalization of the Drosophila embryo and establishes the domains of HOM-C protein function Development, June 15, 2004; 131(12): 2781 - 2789. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
P. Z. Liu and T. C. Kaufman hunchback is required for suppression of abdominal identity, and for proper germband growth and segmentation in the intermediate germband insect Oncopeltus fasciatus Development, April 1, 2004; 131(7): 1515 - 1527. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
R. Urbach and G. M. Technau Segment polarity and DV patterning gene expression reveals segmental organization of the Drosophila brain Development, August 15, 2003; 130(16): 3607 - 3620. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
R. Urbach and G. M. Technau Molecular markers for identified neuroblasts in the developing brain of Drosophila Development, August 15, 2003; 130(16): 3621 - 3637. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 D. K. Jacobs and R. D. Gates Developmental Genes and the Reconstruction of Metazoan Evolution--Implications of Evolutionary Loss, Limits on Inference of Ancestry and Type 2 Errors Integr. Comp. Biol., February 1, 2003; 43(1): 11 - 18. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
M. A. Pultz, K. K. Zimmerman, N. M. Alto, M. Kaeberlein, S. K. Lange, J. N. Pitt, N. L. Reeves, and D. L. Zehrung A Genetic Screen for Zygotic Embryonic Lethal Mutations Affecting Cuticular Morphology in the Wasp Nasonia vitripennis Genetics, March 1, 2000; 154(3): 1213 - 1229. [Abstract] [Full Text]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 A. Abzhanov and T. C. Kaufman Homeotic genes and the arthropod head: Expression patterns of the labial, proboscipedia, and Deformed genes in crustaceans and insects PNAS, August 31, 1999; 96(18): 10224 - 10229. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
A Abzhanov and T. Kaufman Novel regulation of the homeotic gene Scr associated with a crustacean leg-to-maxilliped appendage transformation Development, January 3, 1999; 126(6): 1121 - 1128. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
M. Pultz, J. Pitt, and N. Alto Extensive zygotic control of the anteroposterior axis in the wasp Nasonia vitripennis Development, January 2, 1999; 126(4): 701 - 710. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
W. G. M. Damen, M. Hausdorf, E.-A. Seyfarth, and D. Tautz A conserved mode of head segmentation in arthropods revealed by the expression pattern of Hox genes in a spider PNAS, September 1, 1998; 95(18): 10665 - 10670. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
B. Rogers, M. Peterson, and T. Kaufman Evolution of the insect body plan as revealed by the Sex combs reduced expression pattern Development, January 1, 1997; 124(1): 149 - 157. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
