Open AccessLocust density shapes energy metabolism and oxidative stress resulting in divergence of flight traits
Author(s) -
Beining Du,
Ding Ding,
Chuan Ma,
Wei Guo,
Le Kang
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.2115753118
Subject(s) - biology , locust , insect flight , grasshopper , oxidative stress , phenotypic plasticity , metabolomics , ecology , microbiology and biotechnology , zoology , biochemistry , bioinformatics , engineering , aerodynamics , aerospace engineering
Significance Migratory locusts display striking phenotypical plasticity. Gregarious locusts at high density can migrate long distances and cause huge economic losses of crops. By contrast, solitary locusts at low density have limited ability in long-distance flight. However, the mechanisms underlying such flight capacity variation are poorly understood. Here, we found that the flight muscle of solitary locusts has a higher catabolic capacity that is associated with greater reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation during high-velocity flights. By contrast, a relatively lower catabolic capacity in gregarious locusts is associated with lower ROS generation during long-distance flights. This finding uncovers the metabolic mechanism of locust flight trait alteration in response to density changes and enhances our understanding of the biological processes enabling locust migration.