Transcriptomic exploration of the Coleopteran wings reveals insight into the evolution of novel structures associated with the beetle elytron.

Autor: Linz DM; Department of Biology, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, USA., Hara Y; Phyloinformatics Unit, RIKEN Center for Life Science Technologies, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan.; Laboratory for Phyloinformatics, RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan., Deem KD; Department of Biology, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, USA., Kuraku S; Phyloinformatics Unit, RIKEN Center for Life Science Technologies, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan.; Laboratory for Phyloinformatics, RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan., Hayashi S; Laboratory for Morphogenetic Signaling, RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan.; Department of Biology, Kobe University Graduate School of Science, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan., Tomoyasu Y; Department of Biology, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, USA.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Journal of experimental zoology. Part B, Molecular and developmental evolution [J Exp Zool B Mol Dev Evol] 2023 Mar; Vol. 340 (2), pp. 197-213. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Jan 08.
DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.23188
Abstrakt: The acquisition of novel traits is central to organismal evolution, yet the molecular mechanisms underlying this process are elusive. The beetle forewings (elytra) are evolutionarily modified to serve as a protective shield, providing a unique opportunity to study these mechanisms. In the past, the orthologs of genes within the wing gene network from Drosophila studies served as the starting point when studying the evolution of elytra (candidate genes). Although effective, candidate gene lists are finite and only explore genes conserved across species. To go beyond candidate genes, we used RNA sequencing and explored the wing transcriptomes of two Coleopteran species, the red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum) and the Japanese stag beetle (Dorcus hopei). Our analysis revealed sets of genes enriched in Tribolium elytra (57 genes) and genes unique to the hindwings, which possess more "typical" insect wing morphologies (29 genes). Over a third of the hindwing-enriched genes were "candidate genes" whose functions were previously analyzed in Tribolium, demonstrating the robustness of our sequencing. Although the overlap was limited, transcriptomic comparison between the beetle species found a common set of genes, including key wing genes, enriched in either elytra or hindwings. Our RNA interference analysis for elytron-enriched genes in Tribolium uncovered novel genes with roles in forming various aspects of morphology that are unique to elytra, such as pigmentation, hardening, sensory development, and vein formation. Our analyses deepen our understanding of how gene network evolution facilitated the emergence of the elytron, a unique structure critical to the evolutionary success of beetles.
(© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Experimental Zoology Part B: Molecular and Developmental Evolution published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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