PMID- 10021329
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 19990427
LR  - 20220215
IS  - 0950-1991 (Print)
IS  - 0950-1991 (Linking)
VI  - 126
IP  - 6
DP  - 1999 Mar
TI  - The developmental basis for allometry in insects.
PG  - 1091-101
AB  - Within all species of animals, the size of each organ bears a specific 
      relationship to overall body size. These patterns of organ size relative to total 
      body size are called static allometry and have enchanted biologists for 
      centuries, yet the mechanisms generating these patterns have attracted little 
      experimental study. We review recent and older work on holometabolous insect 
      development that sheds light on these mechanisms. In insects, static allometry 
      can be divided into at least two processes: (1) the autonomous specification of 
      organ identity, perhaps including the approximate size of the organ, and (2) the 
      determination of the final size of organs based on total body size. We present 
      three models to explain the second process: (1) all organs autonomously absorb 
      nutrients and grow at organ-specific rates, (2) a centralized system measures a 
      close correlate of total body size and distributes this information to all 
      organs, and (3) autonomous organ growth is combined with feedback between growing 
      organs to modulate final sizes. We provide evidence supporting models 2 and 3 and 
      also suggest that hormones are the messengers of size information. Advances in 
      our understanding of the mechanisms of allometry will come through the integrated 
      study of whole tissues using techniques from development, genetics, endocrinology 
      and population biology.
FAU - Stern, D L
AU  - Stern DL
AD  - Laboratory for Development and Evolution, University Museum of Zoology and 
      Department of Zoology, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, UK. ds205@cam.ac.uk
FAU - Emlen, D J
AU  - Emlen DJ
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
PT  - Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
PT  - Review
PL  - England
TA  - Development
JT  - Development (Cambridge, England)
JID - 8701744
RN  - 0 (Insect Hormones)
SB  - IM
MH  - Animals
MH  - Biological Evolution
MH  - *Body Constitution
MH  - Insect Hormones
MH  - Insecta/*growth & development
MH  - Metamorphosis, Biological
MH  - Organ Size
MH  - Vertebrates/growth & development
RF  - 130
EDAT- 1999/02/18 00:00
MHDA- 1999/02/18 00:01
CRDT- 1999/02/18 00:00
PHST- 1999/02/18 00:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 1999/02/18 00:01 [medline]
PHST- 1999/02/18 00:00 [entrez]
AID - 10.1242/dev.126.6.1091 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Development. 1999 Mar;126(6):1091-101. doi: 10.1242/dev.126.6.1091.