Cell: Looking at the evolution of complex organs from the unique skills of the paederus

Rove beetles are one of the chemists in the insect world.

Researchers at the California Institute of Technology recently conducted an in-depth study of a type of paederus

Corresponding author Joseph Parker of the California Institute of Technology said: "We are very interested in how the paederus pieced together these glands in the abdomen, because these structures are composed of different cell types

Joseph Parker is an entomologist and evolutionist who has been studying paederous insects for many years

In the face of fierce marching ants, one way for a paederus to survive is to release a defensive compound through the glands in the abdomen, which triggers pain receptors

The object of this study is a paederus called the brown beetle (Dalotia coriaria), which releases a mixture of two types of compounds from the tergal gland in its abdomen

After studying the dorsal glands of paederans, Parker's team discovered two cell types with different divisions of labor

In order to understand how these substances are produced in each cell, they conducted single-cell transcriptomics analysis on the abdomen of the paederus to discover new enzyme pathways

It is worth noting that the solvent-producing cells were found to be a mixture of cells, including the cells that make up the exoskeleton of the paederus and two ancient metabolic cell types

After that, the researchers put the worms and ants together and competed in the same field

The author believes that the dorsal glands are produced through the co-evolution of two cell types

"Looking at the tree of life in the animal kingdom, you will see complex multicellular organs, which are composed of many different types of cells and work together

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Evolutionary assembly of cooperating cell types in an animal chemical defense system

DOI: https://doi.