Transcriptomics of an extended phenotype: parasite manipulation of wasp social behaviour shifts expression of caste-related genes.

ABSTRACT: Parasites can manipulate host behaviour to increase their own transmission and fitness, but the genomic mechanisms by which parasites manipulate hosts are not well understood. We investigated the relationship between the social paper wasp, Polistes dominula, and its parasite, Xenos vesparum (Insecta: Strepsiptera), to understand the effects of an obligate endoparasitoid on its host's brain transcriptome. Previous research suggests that X. vesparum shifts aspects of host social caste-related behaviour and physiology in ways that benefit the parasitoid. We hypothesized that X. vesparum-infested (stylopized) females would show a shift in caste-related brain gene expression. Specifically, we predicted that stylopized females, who would normally be workers, would sho

SUBMITTER: Geffre AC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5394664 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature