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Khalife A, Billen J, Economo EP. Evidence of a thoracic crop in workers, soldiers, and queens of Carebara perpusilla ants (Formicidae: Myrmicinae). THE SCIENCE OF NATURE - NATURWISSENSCHAFTEN 2023; 110:36. [PMID: 37462726 DOI: 10.1007/s00114-023-01866-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2023] [Revised: 07/07/2023] [Accepted: 07/07/2023] [Indexed: 07/21/2023]
Abstract
The ability to share and store food is paramount in group-living animals, allowing a finely tuned distribution of resources over time and individuals and an enhanced survival over periods of food scarcity. Ants have several ways to store food: one of them is their gastral crop, also known as a "social stomach." Nutrients in the crop can be regurgitated to nestmates through oral trophallaxis (mouth-to-mouth) or proceed to the midgut by opening the proventriculus, a valve connecting the crop to the midgut. However, some ants are also known to have a so-called "thoracic crop," an extension of the esophagus that allows for additional storage space. In this study, we provide the first evidence of a thoracic crop in the genus Carebara, in reproductive (queen) and sterile (soldier and worker) castes. We discuss how the ant body plan allowed for the evolution of a novel food storage structure in the mesothorax.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam Khalife
- Laboratory of Entomology, Faculty of Agriculture, Kagawa University, Ikenobe, Kagawa Prefecture, Miki, 761-0795, Japan.
| | - Johan Billen
- Zoological Institute, University of Leuven, 3000, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Evan P Economo
- Biodiversity and Biocomplexity Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST), Kunigami District, Okinawa, Japan
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Chiyoda S, Oguchi K, Miura T. Appearance of a transparent protrusion containing two pairs of legs on the apodous ring preceding the anamorphic molt in a millipede, Niponia nodulosa. Front Zool 2023; 20:14. [PMID: 37072790 PMCID: PMC10111702 DOI: 10.1186/s12983-023-00493-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2023] [Accepted: 03/30/2023] [Indexed: 04/20/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Arthropods gradually change their forms through repeated molting events during postembryonic development. Anamorphosis, i.e., segment addition during postembryonic development, is seen in some arthropod lineages. In all millipede species (Myriapoda, Diplopoda), for example, postembryonic processes go through anamorphosis. Jean-Henri Fabre proposed 168 years ago the "law of anamorphosis", that is, "new rings appear between the penultimate ring and the telson" and "all apodous rings in a given stadium become podous rings in the next stadium", but the developmental process at the anamorphic molt remains largely unknown. In this study, therefore, by observing the morphological and histological changes at the time of molting, the detailed processes of leg- and ring-addition during anamorphosis were characterized in a millipede, Niponia nodulosa (Polydesmida, Cryptodesmidae). RESULTS In the preparatory period, a few days before molting, scanning electron microscopy, confocal laser scanning microscopy, and histological observations revealed that two pairs of wrinkled leg primordia were present under the cuticle of each apodous ring. In the rigidation period, just prior to molt, observations of external morphology showed that a transparent protrusion was observed on the median line of the ventral surface on each apodous ring. Confocal laser scanning microscopy and histological observations revealed that the transparent protrusion covered by an arthrodial membrane contained a leg bundle consisting of two pairs of legs. On the other hand, ring primordia were observed anterior to the telson just before molts. CONCLUSIONS Preceding the anamorphic molt in which two pairs of legs are added on an apodous ring, a transparent protrusion containing the leg pairs (a leg bundle) appears on each apodous ring. The morphogenetic process of the rapid protrusion of leg bundles, that is enabled by thin and elastic cuticle, suggested that millipedes have acquired a resting period and unique morphogenesis to efficiently add new legs and rings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Soma Chiyoda
- Misaki Marine Biological Station, School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Misaki, Miura, Kanagawa, 238-0225, Japan
| | - Kohei Oguchi
- Misaki Marine Biological Station, School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Misaki, Miura, Kanagawa, 238-0225, Japan
| | - Toru Miura
- Misaki Marine Biological Station, School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Misaki, Miura, Kanagawa, 238-0225, Japan.
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Lu Y, Wang Z, Lin F, Ma Y, Kang J, Fu Y, Huang M, Zhao Z, Zhang J, Chen Q, Ren B. Screening and identification of genes associated with flight muscle histolysis of the house cricket Acheta domesticus. Front Physiol 2023; 13:1079328. [PMID: 36714303 PMCID: PMC9873970 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2022.1079328] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2022] [Accepted: 12/29/2022] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction: Flight muscle histolysis, as an important survival strategy, is a widespread phenomenon in insects and facilitates adaptation to the external environment in various insect taxa. However, the regulatory mechanism underlying this phenomenon in Orthoptera remains unknown. Methods: In this study, the flight muscle histolysis in the house cricket Acheta domesticus was investigated by transcriptomics and RNA interference. Results: The results showed that flight muscle histolysis in A. domesticus was standard and peaked within 9 days after eclosion of adult crickets, and there was no significant difference in the peak time or morphology of flight muscle histolysis between males and females. In addition, the differentially expressed genes between before and after flight muscle histolysis were studied, of which AdomFABP, AdomTroponin T and AdomActin were identified as candidate genes, and after injecting the dsRNA of these three candidates, only the downregulated expression of AdomFABP led to flight muscle histolysis in A. domesticus. Furthermore, the expression level of AdomFABP was compared between before and after flight muscle histolysis based on RT-qPCR. Disscussion: We speculated that AdomFABP might play a role in the degradation of flight muscle by inhibiting muscle development. Our findings laid a molecular foundation for understanding the flight muscle histolysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ying Lu
- Key Laboratory of Economical and Applied Entomology of the Education Department of Liaoning Province, College of Plant Protection, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, China,Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resource Conservation and Utilization, Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China
| | - Zizhuo Wang
- Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resource Conservation and Utilization, Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China
| | - Fei Lin
- Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resource Conservation and Utilization, Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China
| | - Yuqing Ma
- Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resource Conservation and Utilization, Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China
| | - Jiangyan Kang
- Key Laboratory of Economical and Applied Entomology of the Education Department of Liaoning Province, College of Plant Protection, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, China
| | - Yuying Fu
- Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resource Conservation and Utilization, Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China
| | - Minjia Huang
- Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resource Conservation and Utilization, Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China
| | - Zhuo Zhao
- College of Life Sciences, Jilin Normal University, Siping, China
| | - Junjie Zhang
- Engineering Research Center of Natural Enemies, Institute of Biological Control, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, China
| | - Qi Chen
- Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resource Conservation and Utilization, Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China,*Correspondence: Qi Chen, ; Bingzhong Ren,
| | - Bingzhong Ren
- Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resource Conservation and Utilization, Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China,*Correspondence: Qi Chen, ; Bingzhong Ren,
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