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Molecular Ecological Basis of Grasshopper (Oedaleus asiaticus) Phenotypic Plasticity under Environmental Selection
While ecological adaptation in insects can be reflected by plasticity of phenotype, determining the causes and molecular mechanisms for phenotypic plasticity (PP) remains a crucial and still difficult question in ecology, especially where control of insect pests is involved. Oedaleus asiaticus is on...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2017
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5641302/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29066978 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2017.00770 |
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author | Qin, Xinghu Hao, Kun Ma, Jingchuan Huang, Xunbing Tu, Xiongbing Ali, Md. Panna Pittendrigh, Barry R. Cao, Guangchun Wang, Guangjun Nong, Xiangqun Whitman, Douglas W. Zhang, Zehua |
author_facet | Qin, Xinghu Hao, Kun Ma, Jingchuan Huang, Xunbing Tu, Xiongbing Ali, Md. Panna Pittendrigh, Barry R. Cao, Guangchun Wang, Guangjun Nong, Xiangqun Whitman, Douglas W. Zhang, Zehua |
author_sort | Qin, Xinghu |
collection | PubMed |
description | While ecological adaptation in insects can be reflected by plasticity of phenotype, determining the causes and molecular mechanisms for phenotypic plasticity (PP) remains a crucial and still difficult question in ecology, especially where control of insect pests is involved. Oedaleus asiaticus is one of the most dominant pests in the Inner Mongolia steppe and represents an excellent system to study phenotypic plasticity. To better understand ecological factors affecting grasshopper phenotypic plasticity and its molecular control, we conducted a full transcriptional screening of O. asiaticus grasshoppers reared in four different grassland patches in Inner Mongolia. Grasshoppers showed different degrees of PP associated with unique gene expressions and different habitat plant community compositions. Grasshopper performance variables were susceptible to habitat environment conditions and closely associated with plant architectures. Intriguingly, eco-transcriptome analysis revealed five potential candidate genes playing important roles in grasshopper performance, with gene expression closely relating to PP and plant community factors. By linking the grasshopper performances to gene profiles and ecological factors using canonical regression, we first demonstrated the eco-transcriptomic architecture (ETA) of grasshopper phenotypic traits (ETAGPTs). ETAGPTs revealed plant food type, plant density, coverage, and height were the main ecological factors influencing PP, while insect cuticle protein (ICP), negative elongation factor A (NELFA), and lactase-phlorizin hydrolase (LCT) were the key genes associated with PP. Our study gives a clear picture of gene-environment interaction in the formation and maintenance of PP and enriches our understanding of the transcriptional events underlying molecular control of rapid phenotypic plasticity associated with environmental variability. The findings of this study may also provide new targets for pest control and highlight the significance of ecological management practice on grassland conservation. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-5641302 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2017 |
publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-56413022017-10-24 Molecular Ecological Basis of Grasshopper (Oedaleus asiaticus) Phenotypic Plasticity under Environmental Selection Qin, Xinghu Hao, Kun Ma, Jingchuan Huang, Xunbing Tu, Xiongbing Ali, Md. Panna Pittendrigh, Barry R. Cao, Guangchun Wang, Guangjun Nong, Xiangqun Whitman, Douglas W. Zhang, Zehua Front Physiol Physiology While ecological adaptation in insects can be reflected by plasticity of phenotype, determining the causes and molecular mechanisms for phenotypic plasticity (PP) remains a crucial and still difficult question in ecology, especially where control of insect pests is involved. Oedaleus asiaticus is one of the most dominant pests in the Inner Mongolia steppe and represents an excellent system to study phenotypic plasticity. To better understand ecological factors affecting grasshopper phenotypic plasticity and its molecular control, we conducted a full transcriptional screening of O. asiaticus grasshoppers reared in four different grassland patches in Inner Mongolia. Grasshoppers showed different degrees of PP associated with unique gene expressions and different habitat plant community compositions. Grasshopper performance variables were susceptible to habitat environment conditions and closely associated with plant architectures. Intriguingly, eco-transcriptome analysis revealed five potential candidate genes playing important roles in grasshopper performance, with gene expression closely relating to PP and plant community factors. By linking the grasshopper performances to gene profiles and ecological factors using canonical regression, we first demonstrated the eco-transcriptomic architecture (ETA) of grasshopper phenotypic traits (ETAGPTs). ETAGPTs revealed plant food type, plant density, coverage, and height were the main ecological factors influencing PP, while insect cuticle protein (ICP), negative elongation factor A (NELFA), and lactase-phlorizin hydrolase (LCT) were the key genes associated with PP. Our study gives a clear picture of gene-environment interaction in the formation and maintenance of PP and enriches our understanding of the transcriptional events underlying molecular control of rapid phenotypic plasticity associated with environmental variability. The findings of this study may also provide new targets for pest control and highlight the significance of ecological management practice on grassland conservation. Frontiers Media S.A. 2017-10-10 /pmc/articles/PMC5641302/ /pubmed/29066978 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2017.00770 Text en Copyright © 2017 Qin, Hao, Ma, Huang, Tu, Ali, Pittendrigh, Cao, Wang, Nong, Whitman and Zhang. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. |
spellingShingle | Physiology Qin, Xinghu Hao, Kun Ma, Jingchuan Huang, Xunbing Tu, Xiongbing Ali, Md. Panna Pittendrigh, Barry R. Cao, Guangchun Wang, Guangjun Nong, Xiangqun Whitman, Douglas W. Zhang, Zehua Molecular Ecological Basis of Grasshopper (Oedaleus asiaticus) Phenotypic Plasticity under Environmental Selection |
title | Molecular Ecological Basis of Grasshopper (Oedaleus asiaticus) Phenotypic Plasticity under Environmental Selection |
title_full | Molecular Ecological Basis of Grasshopper (Oedaleus asiaticus) Phenotypic Plasticity under Environmental Selection |
title_fullStr | Molecular Ecological Basis of Grasshopper (Oedaleus asiaticus) Phenotypic Plasticity under Environmental Selection |
title_full_unstemmed | Molecular Ecological Basis of Grasshopper (Oedaleus asiaticus) Phenotypic Plasticity under Environmental Selection |
title_short | Molecular Ecological Basis of Grasshopper (Oedaleus asiaticus) Phenotypic Plasticity under Environmental Selection |
title_sort | molecular ecological basis of grasshopper (oedaleus asiaticus) phenotypic plasticity under environmental selection |
topic | Physiology |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5641302/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29066978 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2017.00770 |
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