Image 1: Oncopeltus fasciatus, male and female
Image 2: Thermobia domestica
Image 3: Folsomia candida
Image 4:Parhyale hawaiensis, male and female’


Nina Schäper - Research summary

Studies in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster showed that head segmentation mechanisms differ significantly from the well studied mechanisms underlying trunk segmentation. In the anterior head region, activity of Hox genes and pair rule genes is missing. However, despite the belief that head segmentation mechanisms are conserved during evolution, they have not been identified sufficiently in any organism.

Btd, a member of the Sp/KLF (specifity protein/Krueppel like factor) family is involved in early head development in Drosophila. To find out more about early head development in arthropods, I want to isolate and functionally characterize the Sp factor genes Sp1/3/4, Sp8/9 and btd/Sp5 as well as the btd target genes collier and cap’n’collar of the amphipod crustacean Parhyale hawaiensis, the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum, the milkweed bug Oncopletus fasciatus, the firebrat Thermobia domestica and the springtail Folsomia candida. For the amphipod Parhyale, I’m currently working on functional knockdowns using siRNA and transgenic hairpin mediated RNAi.

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Images :transgenic Parhyale hawaiensis