Dataset Information

An FXPRLamide neuropeptide induces seasonal reproductive polyphenism underlying a life-history tradeoff in the tussock moth.

ABSTRACT: The white spotted tussock moth, Orgyia thyellina, is a typical insect that exhibits seasonal polyphenisms in morphological, physiological, and behavioral traits, including a life-history tradeoff known as oogenesis-flight syndrome. However, the developmental processes and molecular mechanisms that mediate developmental plasticity, including life-history tradeoff, remain largely unknown. To analyze the molecular mechanisms involved in reproductive polyphenism, including the diapause induction, we first cloned and characterized the diapause hormone-pheromone biosynthesis activating neuropeptide (DH-PBAN) cDNA encoding the five Phe-X-Pro-Arg-Leu-NH(2) (FXPRLa) neuropeptides: DH, PBAN, and ?-, ?-, and ?-SGNPs (subesophageal ganglion neuropeptides). This gene is expressed in neurosecretory cells within the subesophageal ganglion whose axonal projections reach the neurohemal organ, the corpus cardiacum, suggesting that the DH neuroendocrine system is conserved in Lepidoptera. By injection of chemically synthetic DH and anti-FXPRLa antibody into female pupae, we revealed that not only does the Orgyia DH induce embryonic diapause, but also that this neuropeptide induces seasonal polyphenism, participating in the hypertrophy of follicles and ovaries. In addition, the other four FXPRLa also induced embryonic diapause in O. thyellina, but not in Bombyx mori. This is the first study showing that a neuropeptide has a pleiotropic effect in seasonal reproductive polyphenism to accomplish seasonal adaptation. We also show that a novel factor (i.e., the DH neuropeptide) acts as an important inducer of seasonal polyphenism underlying a life-history tradeoff. Furthermore, we speculate that there must be evolutionary conservation and diversification in the neuroendocrine systems of two lepidopteran genera, Orgyia and Bombyx, in order to facilitate the evolution of coregulated life-history traits and tradeoffs.

SUBMITTER: Uehara H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3162613 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

An FXPRLamide neuropeptide induces seasonal reproductive polyphenism underlying a life-history tradeoff in the tussock moth.

Uehara Hiroshi H Senoh Yukiko Y Yoneda Kyohei K Kato Yoshiomi Y Shiomi Kunihiro K

PloS one 20110826 8

The white spotted tussock moth, Orgyia thyellina, is a typical insect that exhibits seasonal polyphenisms in morphological, physiological, and behavioral traits, including a life-history tradeoff known as oogenesis-flight syndrome. However, the developmental processes and molecular mechanisms that mediate developmental plasticity, including life-history tradeoff, remain largely unknown. To analyze the molecular mechanisms involved in reproductive polyphenism, including the diapause induction, we ...[more]

PMID: 21887383

Similar Datasets

Project description:In the eastern United States the buckeye butterfly, Junonia coenia, shows a seasonal wing color polyphenism where adults emerging in the spring are pale brown, while those emerging in the autumn are dark red. This variation can be artificially induced in laboratory colonies, thus making J. coenia a useful model system to examine the developmental basis of phenotypic plasticity. We used RNA-seq to generate the first set of assembled transcripts for this species while simultaneously quantifying relative gene expression associated with development of alternative seasonal color morphs. The assembled consolidated wing transcriptome was 77.55 Mb. 16,251 contigs of over 1000bp in length were assembled, of which 3,145 were differentially expressed between stages and/or color morphs. Depending on the developmental stage, between 547 and 1420 transcripts were significantly differentially expressed between brown and red wing morphs. These extensive differences in gene expression stand in stark contrast to the much smaller numbers found in previous studies on genetic wing pattern variation, and suggest that environmentally induced phenotypic shifts may arise from very broad systemic processes. Overall gene ontology (GO) analyses revealed that genes associated with structural constituents of ribosomes and oxygen transport were significantly upregulated in the pale brown morph, while genes associated with peptidase activity were very significantly upregulated in the dark red morph. Focused analyses of candidate endocrine and pigmentation pathways revealed a number of notable genes upregulated in the red morph, including several ecdysone-related genes and cinnabar, an ommochrome pigment gene implicated in color pattern variation in other butterflies. Surprisingly, we found numerous melanin-related transcripts, including tan and yellow-family genes, strongly upregulated in the red morph, leading us to speculate that red pigmentation in autumn J. coenia may include red or brown melanins in addition to ommochromes. While we identified several endocrine and pigmentation genes as obvious candidates for color morph differentiation, we speculate that the majority of gene expression differences we observed were due to thermal stress response. The buckeye transcriptome provides a basis for further developmental studies of phenotypic plasticity.

Dataset Information

An FXPRLamide neuropeptide induces seasonal reproductive polyphenism underlying a life-history tradeoff in the tussock moth.

Publications

An FXPRLamide neuropeptide induces seasonal reproductive polyphenism underlying a life-history tradeoff in the tussock moth.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets