21166911
not annotated - annotated - LINNAEUS only
Conserved function of the Kruppel gap gene in the blowfly Lucilia sericata, despite anterior shift of expression.
To determine whether expression patterns of segmentation genes found in Drosophila melanogaster can be scaled to pattern larger insects, we studied the expression of the Kruppel (Kr) gene in the blowfly Lucilia sericata. Compared with Drosophila Kr, L. sericata Kr showed an unexpected 10% shift of expression towards the anterior pole. Furthermore, expression domains not found in D. melanogaster were present at the blastoderm stage of L. sericata. To compare Kr activity and function, we employed RNA interference-mediated gene silencing. We found Kr phenotypes in L. sericata comparable with those observed in D. melanogaster, demonstrating that L. sericata Kr functions as a gap gene as it does in Drosophila. Our results show that, despite an anterior shift in expression, Kr function has remained conserved during the evolution of the blowflies.
Ann file
T1 Species 58 74 Lucilia sericata
N1 Reference T1 Taxonomy:13632
T2 Species 188 211 Drosophila melanogaster
N2 Reference T2 Taxonomy:7227
T3 Species 319 335 Lucilia sericata
N3 Reference T3 Taxonomy:13632
T4 Out-of-scope 351 361 Drosophila
T5 Species 366 377 L. sericata
N5 Reference T5 Taxonomy:13632
T6 Species 498 513 D. melanogaster
N6 Reference T6 Taxonomy:7227
T7 Species 554 565 L. sericata
N7 Reference T7 Taxonomy:13632
T8 Species 684 695 L. sericata
N8 Reference T8 Taxonomy:13632
T9 Species 730 745 D. melanogaster
N9 Reference T9 Taxonomy:7227
T10 Species 766 777 L. sericata
N10 Reference T10 Taxonomy:13632
T11 Out-of-scope 819 829 Drosophila
N4 Reference T4 Taxonomy:7215 Drosophila
N11 Reference T11 Taxonomy:7215 Drosophila