Functional analysis of the role of eyes absent and sine oculis in the developing eye of the cricket Gryllus bimaculatus.

In the cricket Gryllus bimaculatus, a hemimetabolous insect, the compound eyes begin to form in the embryo and increase 5-6 fold in size during the postembryonic development of the nymphal stage. Retinal stem cells in the anteroventral proliferation zone (AVPZ) of the nymphal eye proliferate to increase retinal progenitors, which then differentiate to form new ommatidia in the anterior region of the eye. However, mechanisms underlying this type of eye formation have not been well elucidated yet.

Expression patterns of dachshund during head development of Gryllus bimaculatus (cricket).

We report that Gryllus bimaculatus dachshund (Gbdac), a cricket homologue of Drosophila dachshund (Dmdac), is expressed in the developing eye and brain. During brain development, Gbdac was first expressed in the medial head region, corresponding to a part of developing protocephalic region, and expressed in the primordial and adult Kenyon cells. During eye development, Gbdac was first expressed in the lateral head region, becoming to the eye primordium and a part of the deutocerebrum.