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

ABSTRACT: Food resource access can mediate establishment success in invasive species, and generalist herbivorous insects are thought to rely on mechanisms of transcriptional plasticity to respond to dietary variation. While asexually reproducing invasives typically have low genetic variation, the twofold reproductive capacity of asexual organisms is a marked advantage for colonization. We studied host-related transcriptional acclimation in parthenogenetic, invasive, and polyphagous weevils: Naupactus cervinus and N. leucoloma. We analyzed patterns of gene expression in three gene categories that can mediate weevil-host plant interactions through identification of suitable host plants, short-term acclimation to host plant defenses, and long-term adaptation to host plant defenses and their pathogens.

SUBMITTER: Mackay-Smith A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8323892 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature