Guizhou Provincial Key Laboratory for Agricultural Pest Management of Mountainous Regions, Institute of Entomology, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China.
Scientific Observing and Experimental Station of Crop Pests in Guiyang, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People's Republic of China, Guiyang 550025, China.
Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Jun 20;24(12):10391. doi: 10.3390/ijms241210391.
Mites, the second largest arthropod group, exhibit rich phenotypic diversity in the development of appendages (legs). For example, the fourth pair of legs (L4) does not form until the second postembryonic developmental stage, namely the protonymph stage. These leg developmental diversities drive body plan diversity in mites. However, little is known about the mechanisms of leg development in mites. Hox genes, homeotic genes, can regulate the development of appendages in arthropods. Three Hox genes, (), () and (), have previously been shown to be expressed in the leg segments of mites. Here, the quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR shows that three Hox genes are significantly increased in the first molt stage. RNA interference results in a set of abnormalities, including L3 curl and L4 loss. These results suggest that these Hox genes are required for normal leg development. Furthermore, the loss of single Hox genes results in downregulating the expression of the appendage marker (), suggesting that the three Hox genes can work together with to maintain leg development in . This study will be essential to understanding the diversity of leg development in mites and changes in Hox gene function.
螨虫是第二大节肢动物群，在附肢（腿）发育方面表现出丰富的表型多样性。例如，第四对腿（L4）直到第二个胚胎后发育阶段，即原若虫阶段才形成。这些腿部发育多样性驱动了螨虫的身体形态多样性。然而，对于螨虫腿部发育的机制知之甚少。Hox 基因是同源异型基因，可调节节肢动物附肢的发育。先前已经表明，三种 Hox 基因（）、（）和（）在螨虫的腿节段中表达。在这里，定量实时逆转录 PCR 显示三种 Hox 基因在第一次蜕皮阶段显着增加。RNA 干扰导致一系列异常，包括 L3 卷曲和 L4 缺失。这些结果表明这些 Hox 基因对于正常的腿部发育是必需的。此外，单个 Hox 基因的缺失导致附肢标记基因（）的表达下调，表明这三个 Hox 基因可以与一起共同维持在中的腿部发育。这项研究对于理解螨虫腿部发育的多样性和 Hox 基因功能的变化至关重要。
