Mito Taro, Noji Sumihare
Department of Life Systems, Institute of Technology and Science, The University of Tokushima, Tokushima 770-8506, Japan.
CSH Protoc. 2008 Dec 1;2008:pdb.emo110. doi: 10.1101/pdb.emo110.
INTRODUCTIONThe two-spotted cricket Gryllus bimaculatus De Geer (Orthoptera: Gryllidae), which is one of the most abundant cricket species, inhabits the tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, Africa, and Europe. G. bimaculatus can be easily bred in the laboratory and has been widely used to study insect physiology and neurobiology. Recently, this species has become established as a model animal for studies on molecular mechanisms of development and regeneration because its mode of development is more typical of arthropods than that of Drosophila melanogaster, and the cricket is probably ancestral for this phylum. Moreover, the cricket is a hemimetabolous insect, in which nymphs possess functional legs with a remarkable capacity for regeneration after damage. Because RNA interference (RNAi) works effectively in this species, the elucidation of mechanisms of development and regeneration has been expedited through loss-of-function analyses of genes. Furthermore, because RNAi-based techniques for analyzing gene functions can be combined with assay systems in other research areas (such as behavioral analyses), G. bimaculatus is expected to become a model organism in various fields of biology. Thus, it may be possible to establish the cricket as a simple model system for exploring more complex organisms such as humans.
引言
双斑蟋Gryllus bimaculatus De Geer（直翅目：蟋蟀科）是最为常见的蟋蟀种类之一，分布于亚洲、非洲和欧洲的热带及亚热带地区。双斑蟋易于在实验室饲养，已被广泛用于昆虫生理学和神经生物学研究。近来，由于其发育模式比黑腹果蝇更具节肢动物典型特征，且蟋蟀可能是该门类的祖先，该物种已成为研究发育和再生分子机制的模式动物。此外，蟋蟀是半变态昆虫，若虫具有功能健全的腿，受损后再生能力显著。由于RNA干扰（RNAi）在该物种中有效，通过基因功能丧失分析加速了对发育和再生机制的阐明。此外，由于基于RNAi的基因功能分析技术可与其他研究领域的检测系统（如行为分析）相结合，双斑蟋有望成为生物学各领域的模式生物。因此，有可能将蟋蟀确立为探索如人类等更复杂生物体的简单模型系统。
