High Quality Diet Enhances Immune Response and Affects Gene Expression During Viral Infection in an Insect Herbivore.

ABSTRACT: Herbivorous insects tolerate chemical and metabolic variation in their host plant diet by modulating physiological traits. Insect immune response is one such trait that plays a crucial role in maintaining fitness but can be heavily influenced by variation in host plant quality. An important question is how the use of different host plants affects the ability of herbivorous insects to resist viral pathogens. Furthermore, the transcriptional changes associated with this interaction of diet and viral pathogens remain understudied. The Melissa blue butterfly (Lycaeides melissa) has colonised the exotic legume Medicago sativa as a larval host within the past 200 years. We used this system to study the interplay between the effects of host plant variation and viral infection on physiological res

SUBMITTER: Yoon SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12288801 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature