Juvenile hormones and the genetic interaction between the transcription factors
Krüppel homologue 1
(
Kr-h1
) and
Broad
(
Br
) regulate the transformation of insects from immature to adult forms in both types of metamorphosis (holometaboly with a pupal stage versus hemimetaboly with no pupal stage); however, knowledge about the exact instar in which this occurs is limited. Using the hemimetabolous cricket
Gryllus bimaculatus
(
Gb
), we demonstrate that a genetic interaction occurs among
Gb
′
Kr-h1
,
Gb
′
Br
and the adult-specifier transcription factor
Gb
′
E93
from the sixth to final (eighth) nymphal instar.
Gb
′
Kr-h1
and
Gb
′
Br
mRNAs were strongly expressed in the abdominal tissues of sixth instar nymphs, with precocious adult moults being induced by
Gb
′
Kr-h1
or
Gb
′
Br
knockdown in the sixth instar. The depletion of
Gb
′
Kr-h1
or
Gb
′
Br
upregulates
Gb
′
E93
in the sixth instar. By contrast,
Gb
′
E93
knockdown at the sixth instar prevents nymphs transitioning to adults, instead producing supernumerary nymphs.
Gb
′
E93
also represses
Gb
′
Kr-h1
and
Gb
′
Br
expression in the penultimate nymphal instar, demonstrating its important role in adult differentiation. Our results suggest that the regulatory mechanisms underlying the pupal transition in holometabolous insects are evolutionarily conserved in hemimetabolous
G
.
bimaculatus
, with the penultimate and final nymphal periods being equivalent to the pupal stage.
This article is part of the theme issue ‘The evolution of complete metamorphosis’.
A feminizing switch in a hemimetabolous insect
