title: Abd-B suppresses lepidopteran proleg development in posterior abdomen.
abstract: Pterygotes lack abdominal appendages except for pleuropods and prolegs. The larvae of some holometabolous insects develop prolegs, which are used for locomotion. We analyzed the role of the homeotic genes abd-A and Abd-B in lepidopteran proleg development using mutant analysis and embryonic RNAi in the silkworm Bombyx mori. The E(Mu) mutant developed extra prolegs in its posterior abdomen and showed the misexpression of both genes, suggesting their involvement in proleg formation. The depletion of Abd-B by embryonic RNAi caused the development of extra prolegs on all segments posterior to A6, indicating the suppressive function of Abd-B. The abd-A RNAi animals failed to develop prolegs. These results indicate that abd-A and Abd-B are involved in proleg development in B. mori.
authors.affiliation: Insect Genome Research Unit, National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, 1-2 Ohwashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8634, Japan. tomita@affrc.go.jp
authors.forename: Shuichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tomita
authors.forename: Atsumi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kikuchi
mesh_terms: D000005:Abdomen / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D019521:Body Patterning / Q000502:physiology; D012831:Bombyx / Q000196:embryology / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology; D005121:Extremities / Q000196:embryology / Q000254:growth & development; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D007814:Larva / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology; D009154:Mutation
chemical_list: C410542:Abd-A protein, insect; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D019476:Insect Proteins