Hall Martin J R, Simonsen Thomas J, Martín-Vega Daniel
Department of Life Sciences , Natural History Museum , Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD , UK.
Naturhistorisk Museum Aarhus , 8000 Aarhus C , Denmark.
R Soc Open Sci. 2017 Jan 25;4(1):160699. doi: 10.1098/rsos.160699. eCollection 2017 Jan.
The dramatic metamorphosis from larva to adult of insect orders such as Diptera cannot usually be witnessed because it occurs within an opaque structure. For the cyclorrhaphous dipterans, such as blow flies, this structure is the puparium, formed from the larval cuticle. Here, we reveal metamorphosis within the puparium of a blow fly at higher temporal resolution than previously possible with two-dimensional time-lapse videos created using the X-ray within a micro-computed tomography scanner, imaging development at 1 min and 2 min intervals. Our studies confirm that the most profound morphological changes occur during just 0.5% of the intrapuparial period (approx. equivalent to 1.25 h at 24°C) and demonstrate the significant potential of this technique to complement other methods for the study of developmental changes, such as hormone control and gene expression. We hope this will stimulate a renewed interest among students and researchers in the study of morphology and its astonishing transformation engendered by metamorphosis.
诸如双翅目等昆虫纲从幼虫到成虫的显著变态过程通常无法目睹，因为它发生在一个不透明的结构内。对于环裂双翅目昆虫，如丽蝇，这个结构就是蛹壳，由幼虫表皮形成。在这里，我们以比以往使用微计算机断层扫描扫描仪内的X射线创建的二维延时视频更高的时间分辨率，揭示了丽蝇蛹壳内的变态过程，以1分钟和2分钟的间隔对发育过程进行成像。我们的研究证实，最深刻的形态变化发生在蛹内期的仅0.5%（在24°C时约相当于1.25小时），并证明了该技术在补充其他研究发育变化方法（如激素控制和基因表达）方面的巨大潜力。我们希望这将激发学生和研究人员对形态学及其由变态引发的惊人转变研究的新兴趣。
