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Conserved function of the Krüppel gap gene in the blowfly Lucilia sericata , despite anterior shift of expression
Author(s) -
Blechert O.,
Douglas D.,
Baumgartner S.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
insect molecular biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.955
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1365-2583
pISSN - 0962-1075
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2583.2010.01063.x
Subject(s) - lucilia , drosophila melanogaster , biology , krüppel , blastoderm , rna interference , gene , gene silencing , melanogaster , genetics , gene expression , phenotype , rna , calliphoridae , botany , larva , embryogenesis
To determine whether expression patterns of segmentation genes found in D ros ophila melanogaster can be scaled to pattern larger insects, we studied the expression of the Krüppel ( 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.