Arrows indicate abnormal wing tissue growths on the abdomen of a Tribolium castaneum beetle following knockdown of the Hox gene abdA.DAVID LINZ AND YOSHINORI TOMOYASU
The evolutionary origins of insect wings have been hotly debated: did they arise from dorsal body wall tissues or leg-related tissues? Researchers at Miami University resolved the debate by manipulating Hox genes—which control early development in animals—in abdominal and leg-associated plates in Tribolium castaneum, a flour beetle. They found that tissue from both dorsal body wall and leg-related structures contribute to wing formation.
D. Linz, Y. Tomoyasu, “Dual evolutionary origin of insect wings supported by an investigation of the abdominal wing serial homologs in Tribolium,” PNAS, doi:10.1073/pnas.1711128115, 2018.
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