Role of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">porcupine</Emphasis> gene in the development of the wing imaginal disk of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Drosophila melanogaster</Emphasis>

A search for the genes interacting with the Merlin tumor suppressor gene revealed a Merlin-porcupine interaction during wing morphogenesis. Ectopic expression of the porcupine gene in the wing imaginal disk reduced the adult wing, while addition of an UAS construct with a full-length or truncated copy of the Merlin gene partly restored the wing phenotype. The highest restoration level was observed upon adding the fragments coding for the C end of the Merlin protein. In addition, the porcupine gene was shown to mediate the wingless gene autoregulation, which occurs at two ontogenetic stages, segmentation during embryo development and determination of the wg expression band at the boundary between the dorsal and ventral compartments of the wing imaginal disk.     

Temperature-induced abnormalities in sheep oocytes during maturation

The susceptibility of sheep oocytes to temperature changes during maturation in vitro was tested by reducing the incubation temperature to 20 degrees C at various stages of meiosis. Cooling induced chromosomal abnormalities including disorganized metaphase plates and multipolar spindles in 28-54% of oocytes cooled at all stages of meiosis from germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD) to metaphase II. The time of GVBD (8-11 h after the start of culture) was the most sensitive to cooling, whereas fewest abnormalities were found in oocytes cooled in late metaphase I (16-19 h). In addition to the chromosomal abnormalities, unusual vesicles appeared in the cytoplasm of oocytes cooled at 8-11 h and 12-15 h. No abnormalities in protein synthesis were detected by one-dimensional SDS gel electrophoresis. The consequences of the abnormalities for the developmental potential of the cooled oocytes were tested by transfer to recipient ewes and fertilization in vivo. After 12 days of development only 6% and 11% oocytes cooled at 12-15 h and 20-23 h respectively had developed to expanded blastocysts, compared with 44% of control oocytes. The results demonstrated that maturing sheep oocytes are very sensitive to a drop in temperature.     

Intercellular junctions during development and in tissue cultures ofDrosophila melanogaster: An electron-microscopic study

Summary The present investigation analyzes intercellular junctions in tissues with different developmental capacities. The distribution of junctions was studied inDrosophila embryos, in imaginal disks, and in cultures of disk cells that were no longer able to differentiate any specific pattern of the adult epidermis.The first junctions —primitive desmosomes andclose membrane appositions — already appear in blastoderm.Gap junctions are first detected in early gastrulae and later become more and more frequent.Zonulae adhaerentes are formed around 6 h after fertilization, whileseptate junctions appear in the ectoderm of 10-h-old embryos.Inwing disks of all stages studied (22–120 h), three types of junctions are found: zonulae adhaereentes, gap junctions, and septate junctions. Gap junctions, which are rare and small at 22 h, increase in number and size during larval development. The other types of junctions are found between all cells of a wing disk throughout development.All types of junctions that are found in normal wing disks are also present in theimaginal disk tissues cultured in vivo for some 15 years and in thevesicles of imaginal disk cells grown in embryonic primary cultures in vitro. However, gap junctions are smaller and in the vesicles less frequent than in wing disks of mature larvae.Thus gap junctions, which allow small molecules to pass between the cells they connect, are present in the early embryo, when the first developmental decisions take place, and in all imaginal disk tissues studied, irrespective of whether or not these are capable of forming normal patterns.     

龙牙花不同花器官的表皮形态

花的光合作用与气孔密度密切相关, 但关于在花生长过程中气孔密度如何改变尚未见报道。以龙牙花(Erythrina corallodendron)花为实验材料, 将花的生长期分为6个阶段, 采用光学显微镜对不同阶段的花萼、旗瓣、翼瓣、龙骨瓣、雌蕊托、子房、花柱、花丝和花药表皮的形态特征、表皮细胞密度、气孔密度、保卫细胞长度及宽度进行研究, 并 对其光合作用的能力进行测定。结果发现: 除了翼瓣和花丝表皮以外, 气孔均分布在花朵的其它器官表皮上, 如花萼、旗瓣、龙骨瓣、雌蕊托、子房、花柱和花药。气孔复合体主要有无规则型、平列型以及辐射型, 但不同花器官存在的气孔类型具有差异。在花萼、旗瓣、龙骨瓣、翼瓣以及花丝生长过程中表皮细胞密度逐步下降, 表明其生长主要由表皮细胞扩大引起;大部分花器官如花萼、旗瓣、龙骨瓣、雌蕊托和子房表皮的气孔密度在其生长中后期趋于稳定, 然而其保卫细胞长度和宽度的变化规律具有多样性。旗瓣不进行光合作用。     

龙牙花不同花器官的表皮形态

花的光合作用与气孔密度密切相关,但关于在花生长过程中气孔密度如何改变尚未见报道。以龙牙花（Erythrina corallodendron）花为实验材料,将花的生长期分为6个阶段,采用光学显微镜对不同阶段的花萼、旗瓣、翼瓣、龙骨瓣、雌蕊托、子房、花柱、花丝和花药表皮的形态特征、表皮细胞密度、气孔密度、保卫细胞长度及宽度进行研究,并对其光合作用的能力进行测定。结果发现：除了翼瓣和花丝表皮以外,气孔均分布在花朵的其它器官表皮上,如花萼、旗瓣、龙骨瓣、雌蕊托、子房、花柱和花药。气孔复合体主要有无规则型、平列型以及辐射型,但不同花器官存在的气孔类型具有差异。在花萼、旗瓣、龙骨瓣、翼瓣以及花丝生长过程中表皮细胞密度逐步下降,表明其生长主要由表皮细胞扩大引起;大部分花器官如花萼、旗瓣、龙骨瓣、雌蕊托和子房表皮的气孔密度在其生长中后期趋于稳定,然而其保卫细胞长度和宽度的变化规律具有多样性。旗瓣不进行光合作用。     

Genetic variation for the positioning of wing veins in Drosophila melanogaster

SUMMARY To define the components of variation for wing shape in Drosophila in relation to what is known about the developmental control of wing patterning, we have characterized shape variation in the wings of 12 randomly chosen highly inbred lines. Despite large differences in wing size between males and females, and between flies reared at 18°C or 25°C, wing shape is remarkably unaffected by these variables and is highly line specific. The shape of each intervein region of the wing appears to be independently regulated at the genetic level, consistent with the role of secreted growth factors in establishing the locations of wing veins. Sex and temperature were found to have different effects on cell number in two intervein regions, with the result that wing shape is to a large extent independent of cell density. Dietary cholesterol was also shown to affect the breadth of the central intervein region, consistent with an effect on the strength of Hedgehog signaling during wing development. We conclude that wing shape is under tighter genetic control than wing size, and hypothesize that this control is achieved in large part by gene activity at the level of wing vein determination and differentiation.     

Rediscovery and further characterization of the aeroplane (ae) wing posture mutation in Drosophila melanogaster.

In 1931, Theodore Quelprud characterized a novel spontaneous mutation in Drosophila melanogaster, which was named aeroplane (ae) based on its abnormal wing posture. Although the characterization of the original ae locus was minimal, it is very likely that another allele of this extinct mutation has now been identified. aeroplane-like (ae-l) was isolated as a by-product of a transformation experiment. The apparent wing paralysis is not caused by any obvious abnormalities in the thorax, wing, indirect flight muscles or direct flight muscles. Classical genetic complementation analyses of ae-l with other genes in the region suggest that it represents an allele of a novel locus. Unexpectedly, a molecular examination revealed that the physical lesion identified in the ae-l mutant is exceptionally close to the homeotic gene teashirt (tsh) and, indeed, may represent an unusual allele of teashirt.     

Daily temperature gradients and processes of organogenesis in apical meristem of Cucumis sativus L

We studied the influence of daily temperature gradients on organogenesis in apical and axil shoot meristems at different developmental stages in Cucumis sativus L. The level of organogenic activity of meristems was determined according to the number of leaf primordia on the main and lateral shoots, number of 2nd order shoots, and rudiments of flowers of different levels of development. At the studied ontogenetic stages (mesotrophic seedling or juvenile state), plants were grown under the controlled conditions: photoperiod 12 h, light intensity 100 Wt/m2, range of mean daily temperatures 20 ... 30 degrees C, and daily temperature gradients -20 ... +20 degrees C. After the temperature treatment, some plants were returned to the optimal, for growth and development, conditions for two weeks (aftereffect). Three types of organogenic activity of meristems in response to the influence of variable daily temperatures were described: stimulation, inhibition, or absence of effect. The phenomenon of stimulation includes two subtypes: optimization, when a maximum effect, observed at other constant temperatures, was attained under the influence of variable temperatures and maximization, when maximum values markedly exceeded those at constant temperatures. The patterns described are preserved on the whole in the aftereffect of daily temperatures.     

Use of an inducible reporter gene system for the analysis of auxin distribution in the moss<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Physcomitrella patens</Emphasis>

The plant hormone auxin plays a major role in a variety of growth and developmental responses, even in the more ancient plants-for example, cell differentiation in mosses. Nevertheless, almost nothing is known about the distribution of auxin during moss development. To address this question, we characterised auxin distribution in the moss Physcomitrella patens using auxin-inducible reporter gene systems. Stable transgenic Physcomitrella plants were produced expressing the beta-glucuronidase (GUS) gene driven by the auxin-inducible promoters GH3 and DR5, respectively. Both fusions showed remarkable differences with respect to auxin-induced promoter strength and expression kinetics. A detailed characterisation of the GUS expression pattern in different developmental stages revealed that the highest auxin concentrations were in dividing and ontogenetic young cells.     

Spatial and temporal relationships between cell death and tissue overgrowth in imaginal wing disks of the Drosophila mutant l(3)c43hs1

The temperature-sensitive mutant l(3)c43hs1 is lethal at the restrictive temperature late in the last larval instar and has wing disks that show excessive growth when larvae are reared at 25 degrees C. Such mutant disks give rise to defective wings showing duplications and deficiencies. Abnormal folding patterns are localized to the region between the wing pouch and the area where adepithelial cells are found; the disks retain an epithelial morphology. Apoptotic cell death is distributed throughout the wing disks without any obvious concentration of dead cells in a specific area. Cell death is seen as early as 12 hr after a shift to the restrictive temperature. Temperature shift experiments also show that cell death precedes the onset of overgrowth, but since the spatial distribution of death is not localized to the regions of abnormal folds, it is unlikely that cell death and overgrowth are causally related.     

Immunohistochemical study on the ontogenetic development of the regional distribution of peptide YY, pancreatic polypeptide, and glucagon-like peptide 1 endocrine cells in bovine gastrointestinal tract

The regional distribution and relative frequency of peptide YY (PYY)-, pancreatic polypeptide (PP)-, and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1)-immunoreactive (IR) cells were determined immunohistochemically in the gastrointestinal tract at seven ontogenetic stages in pre- and postnatal cattle. Different frequencies of PYY-, PP-, and GLP-1-IR cells were found in the intestines at all stages; they were not found in the esophagus and stomach. The frequencies varied depending on the intestinal segment and the developmental stage. The frequencies of PYY- and PP-IR cells were lower in the small intestine and increased from ileum to rectum, whereas GLP-1-IR cells were more numerous in duodenum and jejunum, decreased in ileum and cecum, and increased again in colon and rectum. The frequencies also varied according to pre- and postnatal stages. All three cell types were most numerous in fetus, and decreased in calf and adult groups, indicating that the frequencies of these three types of endocrine cells decrease with postnatal development. The results suggest that these changes vary depending on feeding habits and adaptation of growth, secretion, and motility of intestine at different ontogenetic stages of cattle.     

Larval growth and allometry in the cabbage butterfly Pieris brassicae (Lepidoptera: Pieridae)

By adopting a longitudinal study design and through geometric morphometrics methods, we investigated individual and ontogenetic variation in size, shape and timing during larval development of the cabbage butterfly Pieris brassicae under laboratory conditions. We found that ontogenetic size progression departs modestly, but significantly, from growth at a constant rate and that size at hatching contributes considerably to determine the size of the individual at all subsequent stages. As for the shape, ontogenetic allometry is much more conspicuous than static allometry, the latter in many cases being close to isometry. Analysis of developmental timing revealed a stage of apparently more effective developmental control at stage 3, supported by both the relatively small variance in cumulative developmental time up to stage 3 and by the pattern of correlation between duration of single stages. While presenting detailed quantitative aspects of growth in P. brassicae, in particular with respect to individual variation, this study and the associated dataset can provide a basis for further explorations of the post‐embryonic development in this insect and contribute to the ongoing investigations on growth regulation and control in insects.     

Spatial and temporal relationships between cell death and tissue overgrowth in imaginal wing disks of the Drosophila mutant I(3)C43hs1

The temperature-sensitive mutant l(3)c43^hs1 is lethal at the restrictive temperature late in the last larval instar and has wing disks that show excessive growth when larvae are reared at 25°C. Such mutant disks give rise to defective wings showing duplications and deficiencies. Abnormal folding patterns are localized to the region between the wing pouch and the area where adepithelial cells are found; the disks retain an epithelial morphology. Apoptotic cell death is distributed throughout the wing disks without any obvious concentration of dead cells in a specific area. Cell death is seen as early as 12 hr after a shift to the restrictive temperature. Temperature shift experiments also show that cell death precedes the onset of overgrowth, but since the spatial distribution of death is not localized to the regions of abnormal folds, it is unlikely that cell death and overgrowth are causally related.     

Body size and cell size in Drosophila: the developmental response to temperature

In Drosophila, like most ectotherms, development at low temperature reduces growth rate but increases final adult size. Cultures were shifted from 25 degrees C to low (16.5 degrees C) or to high (29 degrees C) temperature at regular intervals through larval and pupal stages, and the flies of both sexes showed an increase or decrease, respectively, in the size of thorax, wing and abdominal tergite. Size changes in the wing blade resulted from changes in the size of the epidermal cells (with only a small increase in cell number in males reared at low temperature). The temperature-shifts became less effective as they were made at successively later developmental stages, demonstrating a cumulative effect of temperature on adult size. The thorax and wing develop from the same imaginal disc, with most cell division occurring in larval stages, but they differ in timing of temperature sensitivity, which extends only to pupariation or into the late pupal stage, respectively. Growth of the adult abdomen occurs largely after pupariation but its size is temperature-sensitive through both larval and pupal stages. We discuss growth control in Drosophila and the likely effects of temperature on food assimilation, growth efficiency and allocation of nutrients to the production of different tissues.     

西方蜜蜂工蜂蛹响应低温胁迫的差异表达基因分析

【目的】本研究旨在从转录组水平筛选和分析西方蜜蜂Apis mellifera工蜂不同时期蛹对低温胁迫反应的差异表达基因(DEGs)。【方法】将西方蜜蜂工蜂封盖后3 d预蛹以及封盖后6和9 d蛹分别置于低温环境(20℃)和最适发育温度(35℃)中4 h,分别作为处理组和对照组,通过转录组学技术筛选低温处理组与对应的对照组之间的DEGs,并进行GO功能分类和KEGG通路分析。利用RT qPCR分别对封盖后3 d预蛹以及封盖后6和9 d蛹的8, 6和5个DEGs的表达谱进行验证。【结果】与对照组相比,封盖后3 d预蛹以及封盖后6和9 d蛹受低温胁迫后的DEGs分别有220, 50和26个;GO功能分类发现,DEGs富集数最多的条目为代谢进程、细胞进程、催化活性和结合,封盖后3 d预蛹的DEGs在生物学进程调控、细胞部分和细胞器等有较多富集。KEGG通路分析显示,处理组和对照组间西方蜜蜂各日龄DEGs在整体概述图、氨基酸代谢、信号转导、运输和分解代谢有富集。封盖后3 d预蛹以及封盖后6和9 d蛹受低温胁迫后共有的DEG 3-磷酸肌醇依赖性蛋白激酶1基因PDK1上调表达,同时富集在自噬-动物、mTOR和FoxO信号通路。低温胁迫后,封盖后3 d预蛹的胰岛素受体底物1-B基因IRS1-B和Kruppel同源物1基因Kr-h1上调表达,而核激素受体FTZ-F1基因Ftz-F1与蜕皮启动激素基因Eth显著下调表达,说明封盖后3 d预蛹响应低温细胞自噬和蜕皮受到抑制程度更大。在低温胁迫后封盖后6 d蛹中与昆虫角质层着色与免疫相关的酪氨酸羟化酶基因TyHyd下调表达;与对照组相比,在低温胁迫后封盖后9 d蛹中DEGs最少,说明在3个蛹期中,其受低温的影响较小。【结论】本研究测定了西方蜜蜂3个不同发育阶段蛹响应低温的DEGs,结果显示大部分DEGs为阶段特有,说明西方蜜蜂不同发育阶段响应低温的机制不同。一些共有DEGs以及阶段特有DEGs的功能研究和其作用机制是进一步研究蜜蜂对低温响应机制的重点内容,为探究蜜蜂蛹期响应低温胁迫的分子机制提供了基础数据。     

Range of potential functions of the Drosophila melanogaster hdc gene

The Drosophila melanogaster hdc gene controls trachea branching, which starts during embryo development. Expression in imaginal disks and reproductive organs suggests additional functions for the hdc gene. The gene was demonstrated to have a maternal effect, which was denied previously. Analysis of cell proliferation in imaginal disks with hdc mutations showed that the gene does not possess tumor suppressor properties at the levels of mosaic cuticle clones of adults and transplanted imaginal disks. Transplanted imaginal disks homozygous, but not heterozygous, for an hdc mutation were found to affect oogenesis in the recipient females, implicating the hdc activity in exchanging signals between different organs. Amino acid sequence analysis of the Hdc protein revealed a region homologous to the human HRS proteins, which directly interact with the NF2 tumor suppressor on experimental evidence.     

灵活操控果蝇翅芽中wingless基因表达水平的策略

【目的】灵活操控靶基因的表达水平对于研究基因的功能十分重要。Gal4/UAS系统已被广泛应用于调控基因表达,可研究果蝇Drosophila等模式生物复杂的生物学问题。受采用载体的特性及插入位点的影响,Gal4或UAS转基因品系在构建好之后,其调控靶基因的能力基本是确定的。本研究旨在在现有Gal4/UAS系统的基础上,开发一种新的策略,实现在果蝇翅芽中灵活操控wingless(wg)基因的表达水平。【方法】用遗传学手段将黑腹果蝇Drosophila melanogaster品系的UAS-wg和UAS-wg-RNAi转基因重组到同一黑腹果蝇品系中。将该重组黑腹果蝇品系与dpp-Gal4黑腹果蝇品系杂交,同时驱动UAS-wg和UAS-wg-RNAi在果蝇幼虫翅芽中共表达。杂交子代幼虫分别放置在不同的温度(18, 25和30℃)下培养。将幼虫翅芽解剖并进行免疫组化染色,测量染色的荧光强度,分析翅芽中wg的表达水平。【结果】在低温(18℃)下,UAS-wg在基因表达调控中起主要作用,wg表现为超表达,但其超表达的效率可被UAS-wg-RNAi有效地削弱。相反,在高温(30℃)下,UAS-wg-RNAi起主导作用,wg的表达受到抑制。并且通过转换温度,可实现wg在翅芽发育的不同阶段在超表达和抑制之间相互转化,从而灵活地操控wg基因在翅芽中的表达水平。【结论】该方法可以灵活操控果蝇翅芽中wg基因的表达水平,对于调控转基因的表达有重要的意义。