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The effect of manipulating ecdysteroid signaling on embryonic eye development in the locust Schistocerca americana

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Abstract

Adult body plan differentiation in holometabolous insects depends on global induction and control by ecdysteroid hormones during the final phase of postembryogenesis. Studies in Drosophila melanogaster and Manduca sexta have shown that this pertains also to the development of the compound eye retina. It is unclear whether the hormonal control of postembryonic eye development in holometabolous insects represents evolutionary novelty or heritage from hemimetabolous insects, which develop compound eyes during embryogenesis. We therefore investigated the effect of manipulating ecdysteroid signaling in cultured embryonic eye primordia of the American desert locust Schistocerca americana, in which ecdysteroid level changes are known to induce three rounds of embryonic molt. Although at a considerably reduced rate compared to in vivo development, early differentiation and terminal maturation of the embryonic retina was observed in culture even if challenged with the ecdysteroid antagonist cucurbitacin B. Supplementing cultures with 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) accelerated differentiation and maturation, and enhanced cell proliferation. Considering these results, and the relation between retina differentiation and ecdysteroid level changes during locust embryogenesis, we conclude that ecdysteroids are not an essential but possibly a modulatory component of embryonic retina development in S. americana. We furthermore found evidence that 20E initiated precocious epithelial morphogenesis of the posterior retinal margin indicating a more general role of ecdysteroids in insect embryogenesis.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Kaushiki Menon, Kai Zinn, Nipam Patel and Barry Condron for helping out with grasshopper embryos at times of drought. This work was supported by NSF grants DBI-0070099 and DBI-0091926.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Wayne State University, 5047 Gullen Mall, Detroit, MI 48202, USA

    Ying Dong & Markus Friedrich

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Exeter, Prince of Wales Road, Exeter, Devon, EX4 4PS, UK

    Laurence Dinan

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  1. Ying Dong
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  2. Laurence Dinan
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  3. Markus Friedrich
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Correspondence to Markus Friedrich.

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Edited by C. Desplan

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Dong, Y., Dinan, L. & Friedrich, M. The effect of manipulating ecdysteroid signaling on embryonic eye development in the locust Schistocerca americana . Dev Genes Evol 213, 587–600 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00427-003-0367-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00427-003-0367-z

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