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Wing plasticity and associated gene expression varies across the pea aphid biotype complex
Author(s) -
Parker Benjamin J.,
Driscoll Rose M. H.,
Grantham Mary E.,
Hrcek Jan,
Brisson Jennifer A.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.84
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1558-5646
pISSN - 0014-3820
DOI - 10.1111/evo.14174
Subject(s) - biology , phenotypic plasticity , plasticity , phenotype , aphid , gene expression , gene , genetics , evolutionary biology , transcriptome , adaptation (eye) , acyrthosiphon pisum , polyphenism , aphididae , botany , pest analysis , neuroscience , physics , homoptera , thermodynamics
Developmental phenotypic plasticity is a widespread phenomenon that allows organisms to produce different adult phenotypes in response to different environments. Investigating the molecular mechanisms underlying plasticity has the potential to reveal the precise changes that lead to the evolution of plasticity as a phenotype. Here, we study wing plasticity in multiple host‐plant adapted populations of pea aphids as a model for understanding adaptation to different environments within a single species. We describe the wing plasticity response of different “biotypes” to a crowded environment and find differences within as well as among biotypes. We then use transcriptome profiling to compare a highly plastic pea aphid genotype to one that shows no plasticity and find that the latter exhibits no gene expression differences between environments. We conclude that the loss of plasticity has been accompanied by a loss of differential gene expression and therefore that genetic assimilation has occurred. Our gene expression results generalize previous studies that have shown a correlation between plasticity in morphology and gene expression.