Fig. 2: apAB induces vg at the DV boundary to form tergal margins.

Representative images of first instar nymphs (a–c, f–h, k–m) and female adults (d, e, i, j) injected with Cas9 protein and sgRNAs targeting EGFP (a–e), vg (f–j) and apAB (k–m) in early embryos from dorsal (a, b, d, f, g, i, k, l) and lateral (c, e, h, j, m) views. Boxed area in a, f, k is magnified in b, g, l, respectively. Arrowheads indicate regions affected by gene knockouts. Fore- and hindwings are shaded in magenta and cyan, respectively. Arrowheads indicate affected tergal regions. n A scanning electron micrograph of the dorsolateral region in mesothorax of an apAB mosaic knockout cricket. The tergum is outlined with a white line. Tergal surface with specific (ap⁻) and wildtype (ap⁺) phenotypes separated by red dotted line. The rough surface structure of ap⁻ area resembles a soft intersegmental region (arrow). The same imaging was repeated for 10 independent apAB knockout crickets and similar phenotypes were observed. pl pleuron. vg reporter expression at st. 13 embryos (o–r) and phenotypes of first instar nymphs (s–v) of control and apAB crispant from dorsal (o, p, s, t) and lateral (q, r, u, v) views. Scale bars are 250 µm in a–c, f–h, k–m, o–v, 2 mm, d, e, i, j and 100 µm in n.