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Through a process known as RNA interference (RNAi), scientists were able to alter the genetic makeup of the long-legged daddy arachnid so that its distinctive slender limbs became twice as short.
This process – which uses a gene’s own DNA sequence and small fragments of RNA to turn off the gene – has been applied to Phalangium opilio species, one of the most common long-legged daddy species in the world.
The result is effectively a short legged daddy instead of a long legged daddy. The team behind the work hope that experiences can teach us more about how these elongated limbs evolved in the first place.
“We predict that the genome of P. opilio will facilitate the development of more sophisticated tools for functional genetics, in order to refine the understanding of how daddy’s long legs make their long legs, ”the researchers write in their published article.
After sequencing the genome of P. opilio, the researchers identified three genes that serve as a map for various parts of the body. It was later found that two of these genes were turned on in the legs of arachnid embryos.
Turning off or silencing genes in other embryos produced daddy’s long legs that were different: two or more of their legs were shorter than normal and had turned into pedipalps, which are limbs used specifically for handle food.
The team then turned off the third gene thought to be linked to the construction of legs in embryos. The legs didn’t turn into pedipalps, but they got shorter and lost their tarsomers, the knuckle-shaped joints used for grip. Similar experiments have been carried out on fruit flies.
“For the future, we are interested in understanding how genes give rise to new characteristics of arachnids, such as spider fangs and scorpion claws, and also in leveraging the genome to develop the first transgenic harvesters.” , geneticist Guilherme Gainett, University of Wisconsin. Madison, told CNET.
Technically, the P. opilio species is not a spider but rather a close relative, which makes these creatures useful in understanding how the multitude of different arachnids on our planet evolved. Not all long-legged dads have legs that can wrap themselves around twigs and other objects like these insects, for example.
The idea is that the spider’s genome duplicated itself in the distant past, giving these creatures a wide choice of genes to use on their own unique evolutionary journeys – there could be a link between more complex genomes and greater variation in organism.
This latest research should prove useful in future work to trace the development of P. opilio and other arachnids, to establish whether the long, slender legs were indeed something that evolved separately in each group of arthropods.
“The efficiency of single and double RNAi in this system makes P. opilio an opportune point of comparison for future investigations into the evolution of the body plan of arachnids, ”the researchers write in their published article.
The research is published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.
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