Comparative analysis of phenotypic plasticity sheds light on the evolution and molecular underpinnings of locust phase polyphenism.

ABSTRACT: Locusts exhibit one of nature's most spectacular examples of complex phenotypic plasticity, in which changes in density cause solitary and cryptic individuals to transform into gregarious and conspicuous locusts forming large migrating swarms. We investigated how these coordinated alternative phenotypes might have evolved by studying the Central American locust and three closely related non-swarming grasshoppers in a comparative framework. By experimentally isolating and crowding during nymphal development, we induced density-dependent phenotypic plasticity and quantified the resulting behavioural, morphological, and molecular reaction norms. All four species exhibited clear plasticity, but the individual reaction norms varied among species and showed different magnitudes. Transcriptomic r

SUBMITTER: Foquet B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8184943 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature