University of Connecticut OpenCommons@UConn Doctoral Dissertations University of Connecticut Graduate School 8-23-2013 Conservation and Diversification of Appendage Identity Specification Mechanisms Along the Anteroposterior and Proximodistal Axes in Panarthropoda Frank W. Smith III University of Connecticut,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://opencommons.uconn.edu/dissertations Recommended Citation Smith, Frank W. III, "Conservation and Diversification of Appendage Identity Specification Mechanisms Along the Anteroposterior and Proximodistal Axes in Panarthropoda" (2013). Doctoral Dissertations. 161. https://opencommons.uconn.edu/dissertations/161 Conservation and Diversification of Appendage Identity Specification Mechanisms Along the Anteroposterior and Proximodistal Axes in Panarthropoda Frank Wesley Smith III, PhD University of Connecticut, 2013 A key characteristic of arthropods is their diverse serially homologous segmented appendages. This dissertation explores diversification of these appendages, and the developmental mechanisms producing them. In Chapter 1, the roles of genes that specify antennal identity in Drosophila melanogaster were investigated in the flour beetle Tribolium castaneum. Antenna-to-leg transformations occurred in response to RNA interference (RNAi) against homothorax, extradenticle, spineless and Distal-less. However, for homothorax/extradenticle RNAi, the extent of transformation along the proximodistal axis differed between embryogenesis and metamorphosis. This suggests that distinct mechanisms specify antennal identity during flour beetle embryogenesis and metamorphosis and leads to a model for the evolution of the Drosophila antennal identity mechanism. Homothorax/Extradenticle acquire many of their identity specification roles by acting as Hox cofactors. In chapter 2, the metamorphic roles of the Hox genes, extradenticle, and homothorax were compared in T. castaneum. homothorax/extradenticle RNAi and Hox RNAi produced similar body wall phenotypes but different appendage phenotypes.