title: Beyond DNA puffs: What can we learn from studying sciarids?
abstract: Members of the Sciaridae family attracted the interest of researchers because of the demonstration that the DNA puff regions, which are formed in the salivary gland polytene chromosomes at the end of the fourth larval instar, constitute sites of developmentally regulated gene amplification. Besides contributing to a deeper understanding of the process of gene amplification, the study of sciarids has also provided important insights on other biological processes such as sex determination, programmed cell death, insect immunity, telomere maintenance, and nucleolar organizing regions (NOR) formation. Open questions in sciarids include among others, early development, the role of noncoding RNAs in gene amplification and the relationship between gene amplification and transcription in DNA puff forming regions. These and other questions can now be pursued with next generation sequencing techniques and experiments using RNAi experiments, since this latter technique has been shown to be feasible in sciarids. These new perspectives in the field of sciarid biology open the opportunity to consolidate sciarid species as important emerging models. genesis 54:361-378, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biologia Estrutural, Universidade Federal do Triângulo Mineiro-UFTM, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas e Naturais, Uberaba, MG, Brazil, CEP 38025-015.
authors.forename: Claudio Roberto
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Simon
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biologia Celular e do Desenvolvimento, Universidade de São Paulo, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, São Paulo, SP, Brazil, CEP 05508-900.
authors.forename: Fábio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Siviero
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Análises Clínicas, Toxicológicas e Bromatológicas, Universidade de São Paulo, Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas de Ribeirão Preto, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Nadia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Monesi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004175:Diptera / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D004440:Ecdysone / Q000378:metabolism; D005784:Gene Amplification; D007814:Larva / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D009697:Nucleolus Organizer Region / Q000235:genetics; D059007:Polytene Chromosomes / Q000235:genetics*; D012469:Salivary Glands / Q000166:cytology; D016615:Telomere / Q000235:genetics; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D004440:Ecdysone
keywords: DNA puffs; ecdysone; gene amplification; gene expression; genomic imprinting; nematocera