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The molecular physiology of increased egg desiccation resistance during diapause in the invasive mosquito, Aedes albopictus.

ABSTRACT: Photoperiodic diapause is a crucial adaptation to seasonal environmental variation in a wide range of arthropods, but relatively little is known regarding the molecular basis of this important trait. In temperate populations of the mosquito Aedes albopictus, exposure to short-day (SD) lengths causes the female to produce diapause eggs. Tropical populations do not undergo a photoperiodic diapause. We identified a fatty acyl coA elongase transcript that is more abundant under SD versus long-day (LD) photoperiods in mature oocyte tissue of replicate temperate, but not tropical, A. albopictus populations. Fatty acyl CoA elongases are involved in the synthesis of long chain fatty acids (hydrocarbon precursors). Diapause eggs from a temperate population had one-third more surface hydrocarbons and one-half the water loss rates of non-diapause eggs. Eggs from a tropical population reared under SD and LD photoperiods did not differ in surface hydrocarbon abundance or water loss rates. In both a temperate and tropical population, composition of hydrocarbon chain lengths did not differ between eggs from SD versus LD conditions. These results implicate the expression of fatty acyl coA elongase and changes in quantity, but not composition, of egg surface hydrocarbons as important components of increased desiccation resistance during diapause in A. albopictus.

SUBMITTER: Urbanski JM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2982042 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The molecular physiology of increased egg desiccation resistance during diapause in the invasive mosquito, Aedes albopictus.

Urbanski Jennifer M JM Benoit Joshua B JB Michaud M Robert MR Denlinger David L DL Armbruster Peter P

Proceedings. Biological sciences 20100421 1694

Photoperiodic diapause is a crucial adaptation to seasonal environmental variation in a wide range of arthropods, but relatively little is known regarding the molecular basis of this important trait. In temperate populations of the mosquito Aedes albopictus, exposure to short-day (SD) lengths causes the female to produce diapause eggs. Tropical populations do not undergo a photoperiodic diapause. We identified a fatty acyl coA elongase transcript that is more abundant under SD versus long-day (L ...[more]

PMID: 20410035

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Project description:BackgroundIn eukaryotic organisms, Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) control the activities of mobile genetic elements and ensure genome maintenance. Recent evidence indicates that piRNAs are involved in multiple biological pathways, including transcriptional regulation of protein-coding genes, sex determination and even interactions between host and pathogens. Aedes albopictus is a major invasive species that transmits a number of viral diseases in humans. Ae. albopictus has the largest genome and the highest abundance of repetitive sequences when compared with members that belong to Culicidae with a published genome. Analysis of piRNA profiles will provide a developmental and evolutionary perspective on piRNAs in Ae. albopictus.MethodspiRNAs were identified and characterized during the development of Ae. albopictus, and piRNA expression patterns in adult males and females as well as sugar-fed females and blood-fed females were compared.ResultsOur results reveal that, despite the large genome size of Ae. albopictus, the piRNA pool of Ae. albopictus (1.2 × 107) is smaller than those of Aedes aegypti (1.7 × 107) and Drosophila melanogaster (1.6 × 107). In Ae. albopictus, piRNAs displayed the highest abundance at the embryo stage and the lowest abundance at the pupal stage. Approximately 50 % of the piRNAs mapped to intergenic regions with no known functions. Approximately 30 % of the piRNAs mapped to repetitive elements, and 77.69 % of these repeat-derived piRNAs mapped to Class I TEs; 45.42 % of the observed piRNA reads originated from piRNA clusters, and most of the top 10 highest expressed piRNA clusters and 100 highest expressed piRNAs from each stage displayed biased expression patterns across the developmental stages. All anti-sense-derived piRNAs displayed a preference for uridine at the 5' end; however, the sense-derived piRNAs showed adenine bias at the tenth nucleotide position and a typical ping-pong signature, suggesting that the biogenesis of piRNAs was conserved throughout development. Our results also show that 962 piRNAs displayed sex-biased expression, and 522 piRNAs showed higher expression in the blood-fed females than in the sugar-fed females.ConclusionsOur results suggest that piRNAs, aside from silencing transposable elements in Ae. albopictus, may have a role in other biological pathways.

Project description:BackgroundThe interplay between global warming and invasive arthropods in temperate zones is of utmost interest in terms of the potential expansions of vector-borne diseases. Up to now, investigations on the recent establishment of mosquito vectors have focused on temperatures during their phases of activity. However, cold temperatures may also act as a strong ecological constraint. Projected changes in winter climate indicate an increase of mean minimum temperatures of the coldest quarter, less frequent days with frost and a shorter frost-season in Europe at the end of the century. Nevertheless, single cold extremes are also expected to persist under warming scenarios, which have a strong impact on reproduction success.MethodsHere, the temperature constraints of European Aedes albopictus eggs, which had passed through a diapause, compared to non-diapausing eggs were examined systematically under controlled laboratory conditions. Additionally, one tropical strain of Ae. albopictus and of Ae. aegypti was used in the comparison.ResultsThe lower temperature threshold tolerated by the European eggs of Ae. albopictus which have undergone a diapause, was -10°C for long term exposures (12 and 24h) and -12°C for 1h exposure. Non-diapausing eggs of European Ae. albopictus were found to hatch after a -7°C cold treatment (8, 12 and 24h exposure). Both tropical aedine species only tolerated the long term treatment at -2°C. Neither Ae. albopictus nor Ae. aegypti eggs hatched after being exposed to -15°C. Survival was mainly influenced by temperature (F = 329.2, df = 1, p < 0.001), whereas the duration of the cold treatment only significantly influenced the hatching response at the thermal limits of survival (F = 5.6, df = 1, p = 0.031) but not at 0°C (F = 0.1, df = 1, p = 0.730). Hatching success after the cold treatment was significantly increased in European eggs, which have undergone a diapause compared to non-diapausing eggs (F = 14.7, df = 3, p < 0.001). These results illustrate rapid adaptation.ConclusionsHere, low temperature thresholds for aedine mosquito egg survival were detected. The compilation of risk maps for temperate regions can substantially be improved by considering areas where an establishment of a vector population is unlikely due to winter conditions.

Dataset Information

The molecular physiology of increased egg desiccation resistance during diapause in the invasive mosquito, Aedes albopictus.

Publications

The molecular physiology of increased egg desiccation resistance during diapause in the invasive mosquito, Aedes albopictus.

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