Fig. 4

Knockdown of Dmac-prd with RNAi causes segmentation defects. Dmac-prd or gfp RNAi was carried out, as indicated. gfp dsRNA was injected as negative control. a–d Embryonic RNAi. e–h Parental RNAi. a Dorsal view of a first instar D. maculatus larva after gfp dsRNA injection showing wild-type phenotype with head, three thoracic segments and ten abdominal segments. b A hatched first instar larva after Dmac-prd dsRNA injection contains fused A1/A2 and A3/A4 segments (black arrows). c Lateral view of a larva with fused A3/A4 and A5/A6 segments after Dmac-prd eRNAi (black arrows). d T2 legs are missing in hatched larva with severe phenotype after Dmac-prd eRNAi (red arrow). Black arrows indicate fused T2/T3 and A5/A6 segments. e Offspring produced by gfp dsRNA injected female are viable until hatching and show wild-type phenotype (dorsal view). f Dorsal view of a hatched offspring with fused A5/A6 segments from Dmac-prd 3′ dsRNA injected female (black arrow). g, h First instar larva after Dmac-prd (3′ and 5′, respectively) pRNAi with shortened body length as well as fused segments. Black arrows indicate fusions of adjacent segments. h’ Red arrow indicates defective T2 leg