Project description:Bioinformatic prediction, deep sequencing of microRNA and expression analysis during phenotypic plasticity in the pea aphid acyrthosiphon pisum We developed high throughput Solexa sequencing and bioinformatic analyses of the genome of the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum in order to identify the first miRNAs from a hemipteran insect. By combining these methods we identified 155 miRNAs including 56 conserved and 99 new miRNAs. Moreover, we investigated the regulation of these miRNAs in different alternative morphs of the pea aphid by analysing the expression of miRNAs across the switch of reproduction mode.
Project description:We developed high throughput Solexa sequencing and bioinformatic analyses of the genome of the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum in order to identify the first miRNAs from a hemipteran insect. By combining these methods we identified 155 miRNAs including 56 conserved and 99 new miRNAs. Moreover, we investigated the regulation of these miRNAs in different alternative morphs of the pea aphid by analysing the expression of miRNAs across the switch of reproduction mode.
Project description:We developed high throughput Solexa sequencing and bioinformatic analyses of the genome of the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum in order to identify the first miRNAs from a hemipteran insect. By combining these methods we identified 155 miRNAs including 56 conserved and 99 new miRNAs. Moreover, we investigated the regulation of these miRNAs in different alternative morphs of the pea aphid by analysing the expression of miRNAs across the switch of reproduction mode. An array including the 155 aphid microRNAs was designed in order to follow the expression of aphid microRNAs during the modification of reproduction mode of the pea aphid
Project description:Bioinformatic prediction, deep sequencing of microRNA and expression analysis during phenotypic plasticity in the pea aphid acyrthosiphon pisum We developed high throughput Solexa sequencing and bioinformatic analyses of the genome of the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum in order to identify the first miRNAs from a hemipteran insect. By combining these methods we identified 155 miRNAs including 56 conserved and 99 new miRNAs. Moreover, we investigated the regulation of these miRNAs in different alternative morphs of the pea aphid by analysing the expression of miRNAs across the switch of reproduction mode. deep sequencing of small RNAs from parthenogenetic Acyrthosiphon pisum
Project description:The pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum, exhibits several environmentally cued polyphenisms, in which discrete, alternative phenotypes are produced. At low density parthenogenetic females produce unwinged female progeny, but at high density females produce progeny that develop with wings. These alternative phenotypes represent a solution to the competing demands of dispersal and reproduction. Males also develop as either winged or unwinged, but these alternatives are determined by a genetic polymorphism. Winged and unwinged males are morphologically less distinct from each other than winged and unwinged females, possibly because males experience fewer trade-offs between dispersal and reproduction. To assess whether shared physiological differences mirror the shared morphological differences that characterize the wing polyphenism and polymorphism, we used a cDNA microarray representing an estimated 10% of the coding genome (1734 genes) to examine differential transcript accumulation between winged and unwinged females and males. We identified several transcripts that differentially accumulate between winged and unwinged morphs in both sexes, the majority of which are involved in energy production. Unexpectedly, the extent of differential transcript accumulation between winged and unwinged morphs was greater for adult males than for adult females. Together, these results suggest not only that similar physiological differences underlie the polyphenism and polymorphism, but that male morphs, like females, are subject to trade-offs between reproduction and dispersal that are reflected in levels of transcript accumulation and possibly genome-wide patterns of gene regulation. These data also provide a baseline for future studies of the molecular and physiological basis of life history trade-offs. Keywords: Transcript levels were compared between winged and unwinged male and female pea aphids, for both nymphs and adults.