| HOMEOTIC GENES AND THE REGULATION AND EVOLUTION OF INSECT WING NUMBER |
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| Author(s): CARROLL SB, WEATHERBEE SD, LANGELAND JA |
| Source: NATURE Volume: 375 Issue: 6526 Pages: 58-61 Published: MAY 4 1995 |
| Times Cited: 92 References: 30 |
| Abstract: THE evolution of wings catalysed the radiation of insects which make up some 75 per cent of known animals, Fossil evidence suggests that wings evolved from a segment of the leg(1) and that early pterygotes bore wings on all thoracic and abdominal segments(2). The pterygote body plan subsequently diverged producing orders bearing three, two or just one pair of thoracic wings. We have investigated the role of homeotic genes in pterygote evolution by examining their function in Drosophila wing development and their expression in a primitive apterygote. Wing formation is not promoted by any homeotic gene, but is repressed in different segments by different homeotic genes, We suggest here that wings first arose without any homeotic gene involvement in an ancestor with a homeotic 'groundplan' similar to modern winged insects and that wing formation subsequently fell under the negative control of individual homeotic genes at different stages of pterygote evolution. |
| Document Type: Article |
| Language: English |
| Reprint Address: CARROLL, SB (reprint author), HOWARD HUGHES MED INST, 1525 LINDEN DR, MADISON, WI 53706 USA |
Addresses:
1. UNIV WISCONSIN, MADISON, WI 53706 USA |
| Publisher: MACMILLAN MAGAZINES LTD, 4 LITTLE ESSEX STREET, LONDON, ENGLAND WC2R 3LF |
| Subject Category: Multidisciplinary Sciences |
| IDS Number: QW604 |
| ISSN: 0028-0836 |