Abstract
BackgroundThus far, a handful of genes have been shown to be related to the wing maturation process in insects. A novel heme peroxidase enzyme known as curly suppressor (Cysu)(formerly CG5873), have been characterized in this report because it is involved in wing morphogenesis. Using bioinformatics tools we found that Cysu is remarkably conserved in the genus Drosophila (>95%) as well as in invertebrates (>70%), although its vertebrate orthologs show poor homology. Time-lapse imaging and histochemical analyses have confirmed that the defective wing phenotype of Cysu is not a result of any underlying cellular alterations; instead, its wings fail to expand in mature adults.ResultsThe precise requirement of Cysu in wings was established by identifying a bona fide mutant of Cysu from the Bloomington Drosophila Stock Centre collection. Its requirement in the wing has also been shown by RNA knockdown of the gene. Subsequent transgenic rescue of the mutant wing phenotype with the wild-type gene confirmed the phenotype resulting from Cysu mutant. With appropriate GAL4 driver like engrailed-GAL4, the Cysu phenotype was compartmentalized, which raises a strong possibility that Cysu is not localized in the extracellular matrix (ECM); hence, Cysu is not engaged in bonding the dorsal and ventral cuticular layers. Finally, shortened lifespan of the Cysu mutant suggests it is functionally essential for other biological processes as well.ConclusionCysu, a peroxinectin-like gene, is required during the wing maturation process in Drosophila because as a heme peroxidase, Cysu is capable of utilizing H2O2, which plays an essential role in post-eclosion wing morphogenesis.
Highlights
Far, a handful of genes have been shown to be related to the wing maturation process in insects
The bulk of the curly suppressor (Cysu) protein consists of a heme peroxidase domain (Fig. 1) that is highly homologous to the animal-heme peroxidase superfamily
Embedded within the Cysu heme peroxidase domain is a specific sequence classified as the peroxinectin-like region (Fig. 1) [22]
Summary
A handful of genes have been shown to be related to the wing maturation process in insects. At the very early stages, aristaless, vestigial, distal less, Escargot (Esg) and snail gene products appear in specific order to establish an internal specification in the wing disc. Multiple genes are expressed in a precise spatiotemporal order to determine the dorsal-ventral, proximal-distal and anterior-posterior axes of the wing imaginal disc. Following its eclosion from the pupal case, wing morphogenesis is complete in adult flies. One hour after eclosion, through a rapid succession of events, blood or haemolymph is pushed into the wings. This process forces the wings to expand like a balloon, followed by the immediate withdrawal of the hemolymph inside the body cavity. Afterwards, through a tanning process, a rigid wing structure is formed
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