昆虫是地球上分布最广泛和最成功的动物。大量的昆虫能够用功能性的翅膀飞行。翅膀扩张是昆虫羽化后获得功能性翅膀的重要过程,健康的生殖器形态对成年生殖至关重要。肌丝是构成肌节并触发肌肉收缩的功能单位。这里,我们鉴定了四种肌丝蛋白,包括肌球蛋白,副肌球蛋白,原肌球蛋白和肌钙蛋白T,从美国蟑螂若虫的翼垫上,美洲大猩猩.RNAi介导的肌球蛋白敲低,副肌球蛋白,终龄若虫早期的原肌球蛋白和肌钙蛋白T在假想蜕皮中引起严重的卷曲翼表型,特别是在副肌球蛋白和肌钙蛋白T敲除组中,表明这些肌丝蛋白在若虫-成虫过渡期间参与控制机翼扩张行为。此外,击倒导致外生殖器异常,导致排卵失败,并影响男性副腺的发育。有趣的是,肌丝基因的表达是由甲氧苯诱导的,一种幼体激素(JH)类似物,并因JH受体基因Met的消耗而减少。总之,我们已经确定肌丝基因在促进翅膀扩张和维持成人生殖器形态中起重要作用,它们的表达是由JH信号诱导的。我们的数据揭示了一种新机制,通过该机制,机翼扩张受肌丝调节,并且肌丝的功能与维持生殖器形态有关。
Insects are the most widely distributed and successful animals on the planet. A large number of insects are capable of flight with functional wings. Wing expansion is an important process for insects to achieve functional wings after eclosion and healthy genital morphology is crucial for adult reproduction. Myofilaments are functional units that constitute sarcomeres and trigger muscle contraction. Here, we identified four
myofilament proteins, including Myosin, Paramyosin, Tropomyosin and Troponin T, from the wing pads of nymphs in the American cockroach, Periplaneta americana. RNAi-mediated knockdown of Myosin, Paramyosin, Tropomyosin and Troponin T in the early stage of final instar nymphs caused a severely curly wing phenotype in the imaginal moult, especially in the Paramyosin and Troponin T knockdown groups, indicating that these
myofilament proteins are involved in controlling wing expansion behaviours during the nymph-adult transition. In addition, the knockdown resulted in abnormal external genitalia, caused ovulation failure, and affected male accessory gland development. Interestingly, the expression of
myofilament genes was induced by methoprene, a juvenile hormone (JH) analogue, and decreased by the depletion of the JH receptor gene Met. Altogether, we have determined that
myofilament genes play an important role in promoting wing expansion and maintaining adult genitalia morphology, and their expression is induced by JH signalling. Our data reveal a novel mechanism by which wing expansion is regulated by myofilaments and the functions of myofilaments are involved in maintaining genitalia morphology.