Evolución de la metamorfosis de los insectos
The object of study of the research group are the mechanisms that regulate the metamorphosis of insects , and how these mechanisms have evolved from ancestral species, with a gradual metamorphosis (like in cockroaches or locusts), to the most modified species, with a discontinuous metamorphosis (like in butterflies or flies). Therefore, the questions that the research group on the Evolution of insect metamorphosis seek to answer are: How did metamorphosis develop in insects? What endocrine and molecular mechanisms led to the evolutionary transition from gradual to discontinuous metamorphosis?
Lab website: Bellés Lab
Rubio M, Montañez R, Perez L, Milan M, Belles X. 2013. Regulation of atrophin by both strands of the mir-8 precursor. Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 43(11):1009-1014. DOI:10.1016/j.ibmb.2013.08.003
Huang JH, Lozano J, Belles X. 2013. Broad-complex functions in postembryonic development of the cockroach Blattella germanica shed new light on the evolution of insect metamorphosis. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta - General Subjects, 1830(1):2178-2187. DOI:10.1016/j.bbagen.2012.09.025
Garbutt JS, Bellés X, Richards EH, Reynolds SE. 2013. Persistence of double-stranded RNA in insect hemolymph as a potential determiner of RNA interference success: Evidence from Manduca sexta and Blattella germanica. Journal of Insect Physiology, 59(2):171-178. DOI:10.1016/j.jinsphys.2012.05.013
Rubio M, de Horna A, Belles X. 2012. MicroRNAs in metamorphic and non-metamorphic transitions in hemimetabolan insect metamorphosis. BMC Genomics, 13(1). DOI:10.1186/1471-2164-13-386
Mané-Padrós D, Borràs-Castells F, Belles X, Martín D. 2012. Nuclear receptor HR4 plays an essential role in the ecdysteroid-triggered gene cascade in the development of the hemimetabolous insect Blattella germanica. Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology, 348(1):322-330. DOI:10.1016/j.mce.2011.09.025
Lozano J, Gomez-Orte E, Lee HJ, Belles X. 2012. Super-induction of Dicer-2 expression by alien double-stranded RNAs: An evolutionary ancient response to viral infection? Development Genes and Evolution, 222(4):229-235. DOI:10.1007/s00427-012-0404-x
Huang JH, Bellés X, Lee HJ. 2012. Functional characterization of hypertrehalosemic hormone receptor in relation to hemolymph trehalose and to oxidative stress in the cockroach Blattella germanica. Frontiers in Endocrinology, 3(JAN):1-11. DOI:10.3389/fendo.2011.00114
Boher F, Trefault N, Piulachs MD, Bellés X, Godoy-Herrera R, Bozinovic F. 2012. Biogeographic origin and thermal acclimation interact to determine survival and hsp90 expression in Drosophila species submitted to thermal stress. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology - A Molecular and Integrative Physiology, 162 (4):391-396. DOI:10.1016/j.cbpa.2012.04.017
Maestro JL, Tobe SS, Belles X. 2011. Leucomyosuppressin modulates cardiac rhythm in the cockroach Blattella germanica. Journal of Insect Physiology, 57(12):1677-1681. DOI:10.1016/j.jinsphys.2011.09.001
Lozano J, Belles X. 2011. Conserved repressive function of Krüppel homolog 1 on insect metamorphosis in hemimetabolous and holometabolous species. Scientific Reports, 1:1-7. DOI:10.1038/srep00163
Herraiz A, Chauvigné F, Cerdà J, Bellés X, Piulachs MD. 2011. Identification and functional characterization of an ovarian aquaporin from the cockroach Blattella germanica L. (Dictyoptera, Blattellidae). Journal of Experimental Biology, 214(21):3630-3638. DOI:10.1242/jeb.057406
Folguera G, Bastías DA, Caers J, Rojas JM, Piulachs MD, Bellés X, Bozinovic F. 2011. An experimental test of the role of environmental temperature variability on ectotherm molecular, physiological and life-history traits: Implications for global warming. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology - A Molecular and Integrative Physiology, 159(3):242-246. DOI:10.1016/j.cbpa.2011.03.002
Cristino AS, Tanaka ED, Rubio M, Piulachs MD, Belles X. 2011. Deep sequencing of organ- and stage-specific micrornas in the evolutionarily basal insect Blattella germanica (L.) (Dictyoptera, Blattellidae). PLoS ONE, 6(4). DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0019350
Clynen E, Ciudad L, Bellés X, Piulachs MD. 2011. Conservation of fruitless’ role as master regulator of male courtship behaviour from cockroaches to flies. Development Genes and Evolution, 221(1):43-48. DOI:10.1007/s00427-011-0352-x
Bellés X. 2011. When inordinate tissue growth is beneficial: Improving silk production by increasing silk gland size. Cell Research, 21(6):862-863. DOI:10.1038/cr.2011.68
Bauer AM, Parham JF, Brown RM, Stuart BL, Grismer L, Papenfuss TJ, Böhme W, Savage JM, Carranza S, Grismer JL, Wagner P, Schmitz A, Ananjeva NB, Inger RF. 2011. Availability of new Bayesian-delimited gecko names and the importance of character-based species descriptions. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 278(1705):490-492. DOI:10.1098/rspb.2010.1330