Project description:The objective of this study was to explore the transcriptional basis of the holometabolous development of Danaus plexippus (the monarch butterfly), which we reasoned would lend insight into how complex life cycles evolve.
Project description:Second instar larvae of the monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus, from a nonmigratory population in Irapuato, Mexico, were reared for twenty-four hours on three species of milkweed hosts: Asclepias curassavica, A. linaria, and Gomphocarpus physocarpus. The greatest differences in coding gene expression occurred in genes controlling growth and detoxification and were most extreme in comparisons between G. physocarpus and the two Asclepias. MicroRNAs are predicted to be involved as regulators of many of these processes, in particular miR-278 could be an important regulator of growth through Hippo signaling.
Project description:The Eastern North American monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus, is notorious for its spectacular seasonal long-distance migration. In recent years, it has also emerged as a novel system to study how animal circadian clocks keep track of time and regulate ecologically relevant daily rhythmic activities and seasonal behavioral outputs. However, unlike Drosophila and the mouse, little work has been undertaken in the monarch to identify clock-controlled output genes and elucidate the regulation of their rhythmic expression. Here, we used RNA-sequencing and Assay for Transposase-Accessible Chromatin (ATAC)-sequencing to profile the diurnal transcriptome, open chromatin regions, and transcription factor (TF) footprints in the brain of wild-type monarchs and Cryptochrome 2 (Cry2), Clock (Clk), and Bmal1 (named DCyc-like) butterfly mutants with impaired clock function. We identified 366 rhythmic transcripts under circadian clock control belonging to biological processes key to brain function, such as neurotransmission, neuropeptide signaling, and glucose metabolism. Surprisingly, we found no significant time of day and genotype-dependent changes in chromatin accessibility (i.e., cis-regulatory elements) in the brain. Instead, we found the existence of a temporal regulation of TFs occupancy within open chromatin regions in the vicinity of rhythmic genes in the brains of wild-type monarchs, which is abolished in clock deficient mutants. Our data suggest that TFs binding specifically in the middle of the day display pioneer-like activity by increasing the accessibility of the surrounding chromatin, while TFs binding specifically in the middle of the night would bind DNA with a longer residency time without affecting accessibility of the surrounding chromatin. Together, this work identifies for the first time the clock-controlled genes and modes of regulation by which diurnal transcription rhythms are regulated in the monarch brain. It also illustrates the power of ATAC-seq to profile genome-wide regulatory elements and TF binding in unconventional organisms.
Project description:The Eastern North American monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus, is notorious for its spectacular seasonal long-distance migration. In recent years, it has also emerged as a novel system to study how animal circadian clocks keep track of time and regulate ecologically relevant daily rhythmic activities and seasonal behavioral outputs. However, unlike Drosophila and the mouse, little work has been undertaken in the monarch to identify clock-controlled output genes and elucidate the regulation of their rhythmic expression. Here, we used RNA-sequencing and Assay for Transposase-Accessible Chromatin (ATAC)-sequencing to profile the diurnal transcriptome, open chromatin regions, and transcription factor (TF) footprints in the brain of wild-type monarchs and Cryptochrome 2 (Cry2), Clock (Clk), and Bmal1 (named DCyc-like) butterfly mutants with impaired clock function. We identified 366 rhythmic transcripts under circadian clock control belonging to biological processes key to brain function, such as neurotransmission, neuropeptide signaling, and glucose metabolism. Surprisingly, we found no significant time of day and genotype-dependent changes in chromatin accessibility (i.e., cis-regulatory elements) in the brain. Instead, we found the existence of a temporal regulation of TFs occupancy within open chromatin regions in the vicinity of rhythmic genes in the brains of wild-type monarchs, which is abolished in clock deficient mutants. Our data suggest that TFs binding specifically in the middle of the day display pioneer-like activity by increasing the accessibility of the surrounding chromatin, while TFs binding specifically in the middle of the night would bind DNA with a longer residency time without affecting accessibility of the surrounding chromatin. Together, this work identifies for the first time the clock-controlled genes and modes of regulation by which diurnal transcription rhythms are regulated in the monarch brain. It also illustrates the power of ATAC-seq to profile genome-wide regulatory elements and TF binding in unconventional organisms.
Project description:All but the most basal Lepidopteran species produce two sperm morphs. Only one of these morphs is capable of completing karyogamy and producing offspring, this morph contains the correct genetic complement and is termed eupyrene sperm. Apyrene sperm, on the other hand, is completely devoid of nuclear DNA and fertilisation incompetent. Despite the fact apyrene sperm is believed to be functional, the function of this sperm type is largely unknown. Here we apply tandem mass spectrometry based proteomics to the two sperm types independently in the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) and the carolina sphinx moth (Manduca sexta). Comparative analysis between sperm morphs and species shows a reduced complexity and greater divergence in apyrene sperm relative to eupyrene consistent across the two species.
Project description:Seasonal adaptation to changes in light:dark regimes (i.e., photoperiod) allows organisms living at temperate latitudes to anticipate environmental change and adjust their physiology and behavior accordingly. The circadian system has been implicated in measurement and response to changes in photoperiod in nearly all animals studied so far (Saunders, 2011). The use of both traditional and non-traditional model insects with robust seasonal responses has recently genetically demonstrated the central role that clock genes play in photoperiodic response. Yet, the molecular pathways involved in insect photoperiodic responses remain largely unknown. Here, using the Eastern North American monarch butterfly (Reppert et al, 2016; Denlinger et al, 2017), we identified the vitamin A pathway as a novel pathway downstream of the circadian clock mediating insect photoperiod responsiveness. We found that interrupting clock function by disrupting circadian activation and repression abolishes photoperiodic responses in reproductive output, providing a functional link between clock genes and photoperiodic responsiveness in the monarch. Through transcriptomic approaches, we identified a molecular signature of seasonal-specific rhythmic gene expression in the brain, the organ known to function in photoperiodic reception in both Lepidoptera and some flies (Bowen et al, 1984; Saunders & Cymborowski, 1996). Among genes differentially expressed between both long and short photoperiods and between seasonal forms, several were belonging to the vitamin A pathway. The rhythmic expression of all of these genes was abolished in clock-deficient mutants. We also showed that a CRISPR/Cas9-mediated loss-of-function mutation in the pathway’s rate-limiting enzyme, ninaB1, impaired the monarch ability to respond to the photoperiod independently of visual function in the compound eye and without affecting circadian rhythms. Our finding that the vitamin A pathway is a key mediator of photoperiodic responses in insects could have broad implications for understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying photoperiodism.
Project description:Butterfly wing patterns are an important model for studying the genetic basis of morphological evolution. Here we used RNA-seq expression profiling in the butterfly Vanessa cardui to characterize the transcriptional basis of wing pigmentation. This approach identified numerous candidate genes including known and suspected components of the insect melanin and ommochrome biosynthetic pathways.