Host-specific gene expression as a tool for introduction success in Naupactus parthenogenetic weevils

MACKAY-SMITHI, AVA; DORNON, MARY KATE; LUCIER, ROSALIND; OKIMOTO, ANNA; MENDONCA DE SOUZA, FLAVIA; RODRIGUERO, MARCELA; CONFALONIERI, VIVIANA A.; ANALÍA A. LANTERI; SEQUEIRA, ANDREA S.

PLOS ONE

PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE

Año: 2021 p. 1 - 31

1932-6203

Food resource access can mediate establishment success in invasive species, andgeneralist herbivorous insects are thought to rely on mechanisms of transcriptionalplasticity to respond to dietary variation. While asexually reproducing invasives typicallyhave low genetic variation, the twofold reproductive capacity of asexual organisms is amarked advantage for colonization. We studied host-related transcriptional acclimationin parthenogenetic, invasive, and polyphagous weevils: Naupactus cervinus and N.leucoloma. We analyzed patterns of gene expression in three gene categories thatcan mediate weevil-host plant interactions through identification of suitable host plants,short-term acclimation to host plant defenses, and long-term adaptation to host plantdefenses and their pathogens. This approach employed comparative transcriptomicmethods to investigate differentially expressed host detection, detoxification, immunedefense genes, and pathway-level gene set enrichment. Our results show that weevilgene expression responses can be host plant-specific, and that elements of that responsecan be maintained in the offspring. Some host plant groups, such as legumes, appear tobe more taxing as they elicit a complex gene expression response which is both strongin intensity and specific in identity. However, the weevil response to taxing host plantsshares many differentially expressed genes with other stressful situations, such as hostplant cultivation conditions and transition to novel host, suggesting that there is an evolutionarilyfavorable shared gene expression regime for responding to different types ofstressful situations. Modulating gene expression in the absence of other avenues for phenotypicadaptation may be an important mechanism of successful colonization for theseintroduced insects.