Department of Entomology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
Sci Rep. 2017 Mar 16;7:44393. doi: 10.1038/srep44393.
Locusta has strong fly wings to ensure its long distance migration, but the molecular mechanism that regulates the Locusta wing development is poorly understood. To address the developmental mechanism of the Locusta flying wing, we cloned the Dpp target gene spalt (sal) and analyzed its function in wing growth in the Locusta. The Locusta wing size is apparently reduced with vein defects when sal is interfered by injection of dsRNA, indicating that sal is required for locust wing growth and vein formation. This function is conserved during the Drosophila wing development. To better understand sal's function in wing growth, we then used Drosophila wing disc as a model for further study. We found that sal promotes cell proliferation in the whole wing disc via positive regulation of a microRNA bantam. Our results firstly unravel sal's function in the Locusta wing growth and confirm a highly conserved function of sal in Locusta and Drosophila.
东亚飞蝗拥有强健的飞行翅膀以保证其长距离迁徙，但调控飞蝗翅膀发育的分子机制还不清楚。为了研究东亚飞蝗飞行翅膀的发育机制，我们克隆了 Dpp 靶基因 split（sal）并分析了其在飞蝗翅膀生长中的功能。当用 dsRNA 干扰 sal 的表达时，飞蝗翅膀大小明显减小，同时出现脉缺陷，表明 sal 对于飞蝗翅膀生长和脉的形成是必需的。在果蝇翅膀发育过程中，该功能是保守的。为了更好地理解 sal 在翅膀生长中的功能，我们随后使用果蝇翅盘作为模型进行进一步研究。我们发现 sal 通过正向调控 bantam 微 RNA 促进整个翅盘的细胞增殖。我们的结果首次揭示了 sal 在东亚飞蝗翅膀生长中的功能，并证实了 sal 在东亚飞蝗和果蝇中具有高度保守的功能。
