Pan M-H, Wang X-Y, Chai C-L, Zhang C-D, Lu C, Xiang Z-H
Southwest University, Chongqing, China.
Insect Mol Biol. 2009 Apr;18(2):155-60. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2583.2009.00862.x.
Abdominal-A (adb-A) is a key gene in the development of insects. To understand its function in the silkworm, we cloned 1193 bp of the abd-A gene of Bombyx mori (Bmabd-A), including the complete coding sequence and part of the 3' untranslated region sequence. Bmabd-A has at least three mRNA splice variants with coding sequences of lengths 1032, 1044 and 1059 bp, encoding 343, 347 and 352 amino acids, respectively. Each splice variant of Bmabd-A has three exons and differs only in second exon size. Bmabd-A was expressed at low levels in unfertilized eggs, but increased gradually in fertilized eggs after laying 22 h. Bmabd-A expression decreased in ant silkworms (newly hatched silkworms). After RNA interference for Bmabd-A, the embryos had two mutant phenotypes, either completely or partially absent abdominal feet from the third to sixth abdominal segments, suggesting that Bmabd-A is responsible for normal development of the third to sixth abdominal segments during embryonic development.
腹部-A（Abdominal-A，adb-A）是昆虫发育过程中的关键基因。为了解其在家蚕中的功能，我们克隆了家蚕（Bombyx mori）abd-A基因的1193 bp片段，包括完整的编码序列和部分3'非翻译区序列。Bmabd-A至少有三种mRNA剪接变体，编码序列长度分别为1032、1044和1059 bp，分别编码343、347和352个氨基酸。Bmabd-A的每个剪接变体都有三个外显子，仅在第二个外显子大小上有所不同。Bmabd-A在未受精卵中表达水平较低，但在产卵22小时后的受精卵中逐渐增加。Bmabd-A在蚁蚕（刚孵化的家蚕）中的表达下降。对Bmabd-A进行RNA干扰后，胚胎出现两种突变表型，第三至第六腹节的腹足完全或部分缺失，这表明Bmabd-A在胚胎发育过程中负责第三至第六腹节的正常发育。
