Characterisation of white and yellow eye colour mutant strains of house cricket, Acheta domesticus

Jacek Francikowski (1) , Michel Krzyiowski (1) , Barbara Kochanska (2) , Marta Potrzebska (1) , Bartosz Baran (1) , Lukasz Chajec (1) , Anna Urbisz (1) , Karol Malota (1) , Bartosz Lozowski (1) , Malgorzata Kloc (3) , Jacek Kubiak (4, 5)

1 University of Silesia in Katowice
2 Uniwersytet Wroclawski
3 The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center [Houston]
4 WIHE - Military Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology
5 IGDR - Institut de Génétique et Développement de Rennes

Two eye-colour mutant strains, white (W) and yellow (Y) of house cricket Acheta domesticus were established in our laboratory. We phenotyped and genotyped the mutants, performed genetic crossings and studied the eye structure and pigment composition using light and electron microscopy and biochemical analysis. We show that W and Y phenotypes are controlled by a single autosomal recessive allele, as both traits are metabolically independent. The analysis of the mutants`eye structure showed a reduced number of dark pigment granules while simultaneously, and an increased amount of light vacuoles in white eye mutants was observed. Significant differences in eye pigment composition between strains were also found. The Y mutant had a lower number of ommochromes, while the W mutant had a lower number of ommochromes and pteridines. This indicates that mutated genes are involved in two different, independent metabolic pathways regulating tryptophan metabolism enzymes, pigment transporter granules or pigment granule formation.

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]

Jacek Francikowski, Michel Krzyiowski, Barbara Kochanska, Marta Potrzebska, Bartosz Baran, et al.. Characterisation of white and yellow eye colour mutant strains of house cricket, Acheta domesticus. PLoS ONE, 2019, 14 (5), pp.e0216281. ⟨10.1371/journal.pone.0216281⟩. ⟨hal-02153241⟩