Regeneration in the anterior—posterior axis of the insect thoracic segment

Abstract

After removal of a transverse strip of ventral thorax from the beetle, Tenebrio molitor, interaction occurred between epidermis posterior to the mesothoracic leg and that anterior to the metathoracic leg. Depending on the size and position of the excision, this interaction resulted in either the regeneration of the extirpated tissue or its replacement by an A/P reversed pattern of sclerites and supernumerary leg. By either route, local pattern continuity was restored between the normal meso- and metathoracic legs. Similarly, when a leg plus adjacent tissue was extirpated, continuity was restored by leg regeneration or by formation of an A/P reversed duplication of sclerites. The results of these strip excisions can be understood in terms of two current models of the ventral thorax (the Boundary Model and the Polar Coordinate Model), each of which postulates a distinct compartment or region intervening between the epidermis surrounding the bases of successive legs. However, the models do not explain the large differences in the frequency of formation of the duplication/deletion pattern after excisions of different widths. The results are also compatible with a different model, involving an A-P sequence of positional values similar to that proposed for the abdominal segment. Regeneration would restore continuity within the sequence by the shortest route, forming either the midsegment (including the leg) or the intersegmental region. The meso- and metathorax differ in the structure of the ventral sclerites and in the segmentation of the tarsus of the leg. The structures regenerated after the various excisions show that the segment border is not crossed during regeneration and indicate that an A/P compartment border running through the leg is usually also respected. There is no sign, however, of a third line of lineage restriction that would indicate a subdivision of the segment into three compartments (as proposed in the Boundary Model).