How did the glow-emitting apparatus in the abdomen of an adult firefly develop? The team of Professor Fu Xinhua from the College of Plant Science and Technology of Huazhong Agricultural University unveiled the key mechanism of the development of luminous devices in adult fireflies, and provided new ideas for the research on luminescence and flash control of luminescent insects. Related** was recently published in the international academic journal Nature Communications.
According to Fu Xinhua, firefly luminescence is a biochemical reaction emitted by a unique luminescent device in its abdomen. The luminaires of fireflies are divided into larval form and adult morphological luminaires. Among them, firefly larvae have a pair of spherical or hemispherical luminaires located in the penultimate abdominal segment, which emit irregular flashes of light in the dark to alert predators. The luminaire of the adult firefly is developed independently in the pupal stage, and in the pupal stage of just 5 to 7 days, the adult luminaire grows from scratch, matures rapidly and has the function of light.
The picture shows that during the pupal stage of 5 to 7 days, the glow of the adult firefly grows from scratch, rapidly matures and emits light. Fu Xinhua's team used comparative genomics, comparative transcriptomics and gene interference techniques to study the early, middle and late luminescence of the aquatic firefly Rheae's pupae. Two key HOX transcription factors, Alabd-B and Alunc-4, were identified to initiate and regulate luciferase protein expression through interaction. Silencing any of these transcription factors will cause fireflies to not emit light.
According to Fu Xinhua, the study found that the large expression of luciferase protein in the cytoplasm is a key factor in the development of the luminous apparatus of firefly adults. Another key factor is the need to regulate the transmembrane transporter of peroxisomes to transport luciferase proteins from the cytoplasm into peroxisomes, and it is only in peroxisomes that this biochemical reaction of firefly luminescence can proceed properly. Alabd-B and Alunc-4 were two transcription factors that regulate the transport of luciferase proteins by peroxisomeal transmembrane transporters.
Fu Xinhua said that the shape and flash frequency of the firefly adult luminaire are the basis of firefly biodiversity, and understanding the development mechanism of the firefly adult luminaire is helpful to further understand the formation mechanism of firefly biodiversity. (Reporter Hou Wenkun).