The Function of Engrailed and Invected in Horned Beetle Development

Paul Lawer-Yolar* and Teiya Kijimoto, Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506

Field (Broad Category): Biology (Oral-Science & Technology) 

Student’s Major: Biochemistry Many genes are similar in the sequence between different organisms even between humans and insects, however, the outcomes such as how whose organisms develop are often different. Here we report another example of such difference/similarity by using two genes that are similar to each other - engrailed (en) and invected (inv) - in the context of beetle horn development. In the past, two paralogous genes en and inv were shown to be involved in the anterior-posterior axis patterning in fruit flies. In our beetle system, the gene hedgehog (hh) and associating genes have been shown to be involved in the horn development. Since en is known to regulate hh in fruit flies, we tested if en and inv may also be involved in the horn development. PCR was performed to amplify en and inv from beetles and obtained fragments were cloned into a bacterial plasmid followed by the generation of double stranded RNA for RNAi. RNAi with the beetle larvae will reveal these genes’ function on the development of beetles. Given the function of en and inv in fruit flies, expected results of RNAi in beetles would be deformation of wings and thorax, along with horn deformation. Subsequently, results drawn from beetle experiments can widen the knowledge in the evolution of genes and developmental processes. 

Funding: Work Study 

Program/mechanism supporting research/creative efforts: My efforts were mainly voluntary.