BmSd gene regulates the silkworm wing size by affecting the Hippo pathway

In this study, the function ofBmSd which has been characterized as one of the Hippo ‐pathway‐related genes was analyzed for silkworm wing development. We found thatmats,warts, andhippo expression levels were higher in u11 compared to p50 wing discs.BmSd (scalloped) expression, which encodes a prominent transcriptional partner to Yorkie (Yki), gradually decreased during the wandering stage in u11, but exhibited the opposite expression pattern in p50. WhenBmSd was knocked down by small interfering RNA during the wandering stage in the p50 strain, 57.9% of the individuals showed minute wings. Additionally,ex,kibra, andwingless expression levels decreased in theBmSd knockdown mutant. Further,BmSd deletion mediated by clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) / CRISPR ‐associated protein 9 induced 50% of individuals with minute wings, a phenotype similar to themw mutant. This result demonstrates thatBmSd plays pivotal roles in silkworm wing development. Our results show that the Hippo signaling pathway participates and plays crucial roles in the regulation of silkworm wing development, and our findings provide a basis for further research onB. mori wing development.

Source: Insect Science - July 20, 2019 Category: Biology Authors: Jin Yin, Jing Zhang, Tao Li, Xia Sun, Sheng Qin, Cheng ‐Xiang Hou, Guo‐Zheng Zhang, Mu‐Wang Li Tags: ORIGINAL ARTICLE Source Type: research