Collaborative Research: Functional Analysis of Proteins involved in the Dynamic Assembly of Chitin/Chitosan Laminae in the Insect Exoskeleton

角质层（相当于昆虫的皮肤）是昆虫在自然界中占优势和主导地位的结构创新之一。该研究项目是一种分子遗传学和生物化学方法，旨在识别对其组装至关重要的角质层的特定成分。 组织角质层在成熟的鞘翅，一个修改的翅膀结构的红粉甲虫，将作为一个模型组织系统角质层形态发生，在节肢动物发展的关键步骤。这项研究将导致更好地了解分子基础和各种蛋白质和几丁质如何相互作用以组装具有独特化学和机械特性的多层角质层的动力学。 此外，该项目还将培训三名研究生、几名本科生和一名博士后研究员，并鼓励他们从事纯科学或应用科学方面的职业。 由于该研究小组在培训和推广高中生物教师方面的努力，全国许多高中现在都使用红粉甲虫进行遗传学实验，并将继续推广其在教育中的使用。这项研究所取得的成果将在国家和国际会议上以海报/口头报告的形式以及在主流期刊上发表经过评审的出版物的形式广泛传播。 资源（突变体和基因工程甲虫）将提供给其他研究人员和高中教师的要求。 可用资源的详细信息也将上传到受欢迎的Tribolium遗传学网站，该网站由该研究小组维护，并在Tribolium基因组数据库“Beetlebase”中。

The cuticle (the insect equivalent of skin) is one of the structural innovations responsible for the ascendancy and predominance of insects in nature. This research project is a molecular genetic and biochemical approach designed to identify specific components of the cuticle that are critical for its assembly. The organization of the cuticle in the maturing elytron, a modified wing structure of the red flour beetle, will serve as a model tissue system for cuticle morphogenesis, a critical step in arthropod development. This research will lead to a greater understanding of the molecular basis and the dynamics of how various proteins and chitin interact to assemble the multi-layered cuticle with its distinctive chemical and mechanical properties. In addition, this project will allow training of three graduate students, several undergraduate students and a post-doctoral fellow, and also encourage them to pursue careers in pure or applied science. As a result of this research team's efforts in training and outreach to high school biology teachers, many high schools across the country now use the red flour beetle for genetics experiments and promotion of its use in education will continue. Results obtained from the pursuit of this research will be broadly disseminated in national and international meetings in the form of poster/oral presentations and in the form of refereed publications in mainstream journals. Resources (mutants and genetically engineered beetles) will be supplied to other researchers and high school teachers when requested. Details of available resources will also be uploaded in the popular Tribolium Genetics Website, which is maintained by this research group, and in the Tribolium genome database, "Beetlebase".