The pair-rule gene teneurin-m/odd Oz (ten-m/odz) is required for the patterning of alternate segment boundaries in the early Drosophila embryo. Mutant phenotypes of ten-m/odz display a typical pair-rule phenotype in which odd-numbered segments are eliminated. Consistent with its pair-rule function, Ten-m/Odz protein is expressed in a seven-stripe pattern before the onset of gastrulation. While expression of ten-m/odz orthologues have been characterized in several vertebrate species, their expression patterns in non-Drosophila arthropods during embryonic segmentation have yet to be reported. Here, we have identified a Tribolium orthologue of ten-m/odz (Tc-ten-m/odz) and analyzed its expression patterns during embryonic segmentation. Tc-ten-m/odz expression was observed in a region of the growth zone, which appeared to be a potential mesodermal region, during germband elongation. Later, segmental expression appeared in the trunk after segments had already formed. In contrast to Drosophila, apparently Tc-ten-m/odz was neither expressed in the ectoderm of the growth zone where segmentation occurs, nor the ectoderm of trunk regions where segmentation is maintained. Our findings suggest that Tc-ten-m/odz may not function as a pair rule gene in Tribolium segmentation.

成对规则的基因teneurin-m / odd Oz（10-m / odz）是早期果蝇胚胎中交替片段边界的模式所必需的。十-m / odz的突变表型显示了一个典型的成对表型，其中消除了奇数段。与其成对规则功能一致，Ten-m / Odz蛋白在开始胃泌尿之前以七条纹模式表达。尽管已经在几种脊椎动物中鉴定了10 m / odz直向同源物的表达，但尚未报道它们在胚胎分割过程中在非果蝇节肢动物中的表达方式。在这里，我们确定了一个Tribolium直系同源物10 m / odz（Tc-ten-m / odz）并分析了其在胚胎分割过程中的表达模式。在生殖带伸长期间，在生长区的一个区域中观察到了Tc-ten-m / odz表达，该区域似乎是潜在的中胚层区域。后来，在节段已经形成之后，节段表达出现在躯干中。与果蝇相反，Tc-ten-m / odz显然既不在发生分段的生长区的外胚层中表达，也不在保持分段的主干区域的外胚层中表达。我们的发现表明，Tc-ten-m / odz可能在Tribolium分割中不作为成对规则基因起作用。