| 1. |
- Celorio-Mancera, Maria de la Paz, et al.
(author)
-
Mechanisms of macroevolution : polyphagous plasticity in butterfly larvae revealed by RNA-Seq
- 2013
-
In: Molecular Ecology. - : Wiley. - 0962-1083 .- 1365-294X. ; 22:19, s. 4884-4895
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Transcriptome studies of insect herbivory are still rare, yet studies in model systems have uncovered patterns of transcript regulation that appear to provide insights into how insect herbivores attain polyphagy, such as a general increase in expression breadth and regulation of ribosomal, digestion- and detoxification-related genes. We investigated the potential generality of these emerging patterns, in the Swedish comma, Polygonia c-album, which is a polyphagous, widely-distributed butterfly. Urtica dioica and Ribes uva-crispa are hosts of P. c-album, but Ribes represents a recent evolutionary shift onto a very divergent host. Utilizing the assembled transcriptome for read mapping, we assessed gene expression finding that caterpillar life-history (i.e. 2nd vs. 4th-instar regulation) had a limited influence on gene expression plasticity. In contrast, differential expression in response to host-plant identified genes encoding serine-type endopeptidases, membrane-associated proteins and transporters. Differential regulation of genes involved in nucleic acid binding was also observed suggesting that polyphagy involves large scale transcriptional changes. Additionally, transcripts coding for structural constituents of the cuticle were differentially expressed in caterpillars in response to their diet indicating that the insect cuticle may be a target for plant defence. Our results state that emerging patterns of transcript regulation from model species appear relevant in species when placed in an evolutionary context.
|
|
| 2. |
- Gamberale-Stille, Gabriella, et al.
(author)
-
Host plant choice in the comma butterfly-larval choosiness may ameliorate effects of indiscriminate oviposition
- 2014
-
In: Insect Science. - : Wiley. - 1672-9609 .- 1744-7917. ; 21:4, s. 499-506
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In most phytophagous insects, the larval diet strongly affects future fitness and in species that do not feed on plant parts as adults, larval diet is the main source of nitrogen. In many of these insect host plant systems, the immature larvae are considered to be fully dependent on the choice of the mothers, who, in turn, possess a highly developed host recognition system. This circumstance allows for a potential mother-offspring conflict, resulting in the female maximizing her fecundity at the expense of larval performance on suboptimal hosts. In two experiments, we aimed to investigate this relationship in the polyphagous comma butterfly, Polygonia c-album, by comparing the relative acceptance of low- and medium-ranked hosts between females and neonate larvae both within individuals between life stages, and between mothers and their offspring. The study shows a variation between females in oviposition acceptance of low-ranked hosts, and that the degree of acceptance in the mothers correlates with the probability of acceptance of the same host in the larvae. We also found a negative relationship between stages within individuals as there was a higher acceptance of lower ranked hosts in females who had abandoned said host as a larva. Notably, however, neonate larvae of the comma butterfly did not unconditionally accept to feed from the least favorable host species even when it was the only food source. Our results suggest the possibility that the disadvantages associated with a generalist oviposition strategy can be decreased by larval participation in host plant choice.
|
|
| 3. |
- Söderlind, Lina, et al.
(author)
-
Genetics of diapause in the comma butterfly Polygonia c-album
- 2011
-
In: Physiological entomology (Print). - : Wiley. - 0307-6962 .- 1365-3032. ; 36:1, s. 8-13
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The processes of local adaptation and ecological speciation can be better understood by studying the genetic background of life-history decisions. The sex chromosomes host genes for many population differences in the Lepidoptera and therefore the inheritance of diapause determination in the butterfly Polygonia c-album may be hypothesized to be sex-linked. In the present study, Polygonia c-album (L.) from Spain and Sweden and hybrid offspring are raised under an LD 17 : 7 h photocycle that induces most pure Swedish individuals to develop into the diapausing dark morph and most pure Spanish individuals into the light and directly-developing morph. If inheritance of the daylength threshold for diapause is X-linked, as is known to be the case for host-plant preferences, females should follow the developmental path of their male parents' populations. However, female hybrids instead have a diapause propensity intermediate to that of their parental stocks and, consequentially, diapause determination is not X-linked. However, male hybrids eclose as the diapausing morph to a higher extent than females and, moreover, this pattern is more pronounced in the Spanish female x Swedish male cross than in the reciprocal cross. Hence, it is concluded that the genetic determination of the critical daylength for diapause is mainly autosomal but with some influence of sex-linked genes and/or parental effects, possibly as an effect of the importance of protandry for males. Such sex effects could provide a starting point for the evolution of population differences inherited on the sex chromosomes.
|
|
| 4. |
- Söderlind, Lina, 1982-
(author)
-
Life-history consequenses of host plant choice in the comma butterfly
- 2012
-
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- There is much evidence that herbivory is a key innovation for the tremendous success of insect. In this thesis I have investigated different aspects of host plant utilization and phenotypic plasticity using the polyphagous comma butterfly, Polygonia c-album. Even though external conditions affect a phenotypic plastic response, the outcome is often influenced by a genetic background which may differ among populations. In Paper I we suspected the genetic background to seasonal polymorphism to be X-linked. However, results from interspecific hybridization between two populations suggested that diapause response is instead inherited in a mainly autosomally additive fashion, with a possible influence of sexual antagonism on males. In Paper II we showed that female oviposition preference is not a plastic response influenced by larval experience, but has a genetic background coupled to host plant suitability. Further, there is a strong individual correlation between larval host plant acceptance and female host plant specificity (Paper III). We believe this to be a larval feed-back genetically linked to female host specificity: offspring to ‘choosy’ specialist mothers benefit by remaining on the original host while offspring to less discriminating generalist mothers should risk inspecting the surroundings, thus compensating for potential poor female choice. In the larval mid-gut, genes are differentially expressed depending on host plant diet (Paper IV). Therefore, we expected to find fitness consequences of host plant switch. However, although growth rate was affected in a few treatments, larvae were generally surprisingly good at adjusting to new diets (Paper V). To conclude, host plant choice in both female and larval life stage is connected to performance. Combined with increased understanding about the plastic response to diet intake and seasonal polymorphism we have gained further insights into the processes of local adaptations and speciation in the Lepidoptera.
|
|
