title: Fine Mapping of a Degenerated Abdominal Legs Mutant (Edl) in Silkworm, Bombyx mori.
abstract: In insects, abdominal appendages, also called prolegs, vary due to adaptive evolution. Mutations on prolegs within species provide insights to better understand the mechanisms underlying appendage development and diversity. In silkworm Bombyx mori, extra-crescents and degenerated abdominal legs (Edl) mutant, belonging to the E pseudoallele group, is a spontaneous mutation that adds crescents and degenerates prolegs on the third abdominal segment (A3). This mutation may be a homeotic transformation of A3 to A2. In this study, the Edl locus was mapped within approximately a 211 Kb region that is 10 Kb upstream of Bmabdominal-A (Bmabd-A). RT-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) and Western blot analysis of Bmabd-A expression showed a slight but significant decrease, while the expression of BmUltrabithorax (BmUbx) was up-regulated in the Edl mutant compared to wildtype (Dazao). Moreover, we also found that BmDistal-less (BmDll), which regulated the development of distal proleg structures, was missing at the tips of the A3 prolegs in the Edl mutant compared to BmDll expression in normally developed prolegs in both the wildtype and mutant. Collectively, we identified approximately a 211 Kb region in the Edl locus that regulates BmUbx and Bmabd-A expression and found that changes in BmUbx and Bmabd-A expression may lead to the loss of distal proleg structures in B. mori.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Key Laboratory for Sericulture Functional Genomics and Biotechnology of Agricultural Ministry, Southwest University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Honglei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Key Laboratory for Sericulture Functional Genomics and Biotechnology of Agricultural Ministry, Southwest University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoling
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Key Laboratory for Sericulture Functional Genomics and Biotechnology of Agricultural Ministry, Southwest University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Meijing
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Key Laboratory for Sericulture Functional Genomics and Biotechnology of Agricultural Ministry, Southwest University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Hai
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Key Laboratory for Sericulture Functional Genomics and Biotechnology of Agricultural Ministry, Southwest University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Zhiquan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Key Laboratory for Sericulture Functional Genomics and Biotechnology of Agricultural Ministry, Southwest University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Zhonghuai
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xiang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Key Laboratory for Sericulture Functional Genomics and Biotechnology of Agricultural Ministry, Southwest University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Fangyin
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Silkworm Genome Biology, Key Laboratory for Sericulture Functional Genomics and Biotechnology of Agricultural Ministry, Southwest University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lu
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D012831:Bombyx / Q000235:genetics*; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D009154:Mutation