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Koya SHIMOYAMA
Assistant Professor (Research fellowship-PD)Institute for Advanced Academic Research / Graduate School of Science
Keywords
Drosophila、Greenbottle fly、Cuticle、Self-organization
Professional Memberships
The Zoological Society of Japan、The Japan Society for Comparative Endocrinology
Research Theme
Mechanism of Structure Formation by Self-Organization of Extracellular Molecules : Analysis in the Laminar Structure of Insect Cuticle
Abstract
Insect bodies are covered with an exoskeleton called the cuticle, and the fine structure of the cuticle exhibits a wide range of properties. A typical example is structural color such as those observed in jewel beetles and greenbottle fly. The cuticles of these colorful insects have multilayer structures, which generate interference of reflected light to display structural color. However, it is not clear how this multilayer structure of the cuticle is produced.
In this study, I propose that this multilayer structure is formed by the self-organization of cuticular molecules. In the model organism Drosophila melanogaster, a two-layer structure of larva cuticle is known, and two types of cuticular molecules were suggested to be involved. I will first clarify the molecular mechanism of the two-layer structure formation in Drosophila melanogaster and then apply the knowledge to understand the mechanism of multilayer structure in the greenbottle fly.