Morphological features of organismal body plans are often highly conserved within large taxa. For example, segmentation is a shared and defining feature of all insects. Screens in Drosophila identified genes responsible for the development of body segments, including the “pair-rule” genes (PRGs), which subdivide embryos into double-segment units in a previously unexpected pre-patterning step. Here we show that the milkweed bug Oncopeltus fasciatus also uses a pair rule for embryo subdivision but Oncopeltus employs different genes for this process. We identified the gene Blimp1 as an Oncopeltus PRG based on its expression pattern, tested its function with RNA interference and CRISPR-Cas9, and generated the first PR mutant in this species. Although it does not have PR function in Drosophila , like Drosophila PRGs, Blimp1 encodes a transcription factor required for embryonic viability. Thus, pair-rule subdivision of the insect body plan is more highly conserved than the factors mediating this process, suggesting a developmental constraint on this pre-patterning step.

中文翻译：

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相同的规则，不同的基因：Blimp1 是马利筋虫 Oncopeltus fasciatus 中的配对规则基因


生物体计划的形态特征在大型分类群中通常高度保守。例如，分割是所有昆虫的共同定义特征。果蝇的筛选确定了负责体段发育的基因，包括“配对规则”基因 （PRG），该基因在以前意想不到的预模式化步骤中将胚胎细分为双段单元。在这里，我们表明马利筋虫 Oncopeltus fasciatus 也使用配对规则进行胚胎细分，但 Oncopeltus 在这个过程中使用不同的基因。我们根据基因 Blimp1 的表达模式将其鉴定为 Oncopeltus PRG，用 RNA 干扰和 CRISPR-Cas9 测试其功能，并在该物种中产生了第一个 PR 突变体。虽然它在果蝇中没有 PR 功能，但与果蝇 PRG 一样，Blimp1 编码胚胎活力所需的转录因子。因此，昆虫体计划的配对规则细分比介导这一过程的因素更为保守，这表明该预模式化步骤存在发育限制。