Global analysis of the Dorsal-ventral patterning regulatory network in the wasp Nasonia vitripennis. Jeremy A. Lynch^1,2, Thomas Buchta², Orhan Özüak², Siegfried Roth². 1) Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL; 2) Institute for Developmental Biology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.

   Gene regulatory networks underlie developmental patterning and morphogenetic processes, and changes in the interactions within the underlying GRNs are a major driver of evolutionary processes. One of the most thoroughly characterized GRNs is the dorsal-ventral (DV) patterning system of the Drosophila embryo. Using this as a starting point, we have endeavored to characterize the DV system of the wasp Nasonia vitripennis. This wasp has convergently evolved a mode of embryonic development similar to that of the fly, and it is of interest to know whether the similarity at the gross level also extends to the molecular level. Taking advantage of our ability to produce dorsalized and ventralized embryos, and combining this with quantitative next-generation sequencing, we have identified a set of over 200 genes that appear to be differentially regulated along the DV axis of the wasp embryo. This set includes many of the genes identified in a similar experiment performed in Drosophila. We have also identified a set of Nasonia genes with distinct expression patterns that are not expressed in the fly embryo. We propose that at least some of these genes were recruited in the wasp to carry out the unique morphogenetic movements that occur in the wasp embryo at gastrulation.