AI Article Synopsis
- Fossil evidence indicates that ancient insects had winglike structures on all body segments, suggesting a common evolutionary origin, but it's still debated if these features were lost or transformed over time.
- Researchers identified specific body parts in the mealworm beetle that act as homologs to wings and can develop into winglike structures when certain genes are interfered with.
- Key genes involved in wing development are crucial for the formation of these structures, leading to the idea that changes to existing appendages, rather than their outright loss, have contributed to the diversity of insect forms.
Article Abstract
Fossil insects living some 300 million years ago show winglike pads on all thoracic and abdominal segments, which suggests their serial homology. It remains unclear whether winglike structures in nonwinged segments have been lost or modified through evolution. Here, we identified a ventral lateral part of the body wall on the first thoracic segment, the hypomeron, and pupal dorsolateral denticular outgrowths as wing serial homologs in the mealworm beetle Tenebrio molitor. Both domains transform into winglike structures under Hox RNA interference conditions. Gene expression and functional analyses revealed central roles for the key wing selector genes, vestigial and scalloped, in the hypomeron and the denticular outgrowth formation. We propose that modification, rather than loss, of dorsal appendages has provided an additional diversifying mechanism of insect body plan.
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1234219 | DOI Listing |
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