Alternative developmental and transcriptomic responses to host plant water limitation in a butterfly metapopulation

AbstractPredicting how climate change affects biotic interactions and their evolution poses a challenge. Plant-insect herbivore interactions are particularly sensitive to climate change, as climate-induced changes in plant quality cascade into the performance of insect herbivores. Whereas the immediate survival of herbivore individuals depends on plastic responses to climate change induced nutritional stress, long-term population persistence via evolutionary adaptation requires genetic variation for these responses. In order to assess the prospects for population persistence under climate change, it is therefore crucial to characterise response mechanisms to climate change induced stressors, and quantify their variability in natural populations. Here, we test developmental and transcriptomic responses to water limitation induced host plant quality change in a Glanville fritillary butterfly (Melitaea cinxia) metapopulation. We combine nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy on the plant metabolome, larval developmental assays and an RNA seq analysis of the larval transcriptome. We observed that responses to feeding on water limited plants, in which amino acids and aromatic compounds are enriched, showed marked intrapopulation variation, with individuals of some families performing better on control and others on water limited plants. The transcriptomic responses were concordant with the developmental responses: Families exhibiting opposite developmental responses also produced opposite transcriptomic responses, e.g. in growth associated intracellular signalling. The opposite developmental and transcriptomic responses are associated with between families differences in organic compound catabolism and storage protein production. The results reveal heritable intrapopulation variability in plasticity, suggesting potential for evolutionary responses to drought-induced changes in host plant quality in the Finnish M. cinxia metapopulation.

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INSECT PHENOLOGY MEDIATED BY HOST-PLANT WATER RELATIONS

Evolution ◽

10.1111/j.1558-5646.1990.tb05943.x ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 44 (3) ◽

pp. 629-636 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

T. K. Wood ◽

K. L. Olmstead ◽

S. I. Guttman

Keyword(s):

Host Plant ◽

Water Relations ◽

Plant Water Relations ◽

Plant Water ◽

Insect Phenology

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Every cloud has a silver lining: Moderate plant water stress positively impacts development, immunity, and gut microbiota of a specialist herbivore

10.1101/411678 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

E Rosa ◽

G Minard ◽

J Lindholm ◽

M Saastamoinen

Keyword(s):

Water Stress ◽

Host Plant ◽

Fungal Community ◽

Larval Performance ◽

Immune Gene ◽

Plant Water ◽

Microbial Composition ◽

Specialist Herbivore ◽

Plant Water Stress ◽

The Impact

AbstractThe ongoing global temperature rise has led to increasing frequency of drought events, negatively impacting vegetation and the living organisms relying on it. Extreme drought killing host plants can clearly reduce herbivore fitness, but the impact of moderate host plant water stress on insect herbivores can vary, and may even be beneficial. The Finnish Glanville fritillary butterfly (Melitaea cinxia) has faced reduced precipitation in recent years, which has impacted population dynamics. However, whether the negative effects depend on extreme desiccation killing the host plant or moderate drought impacting plant quality remains unclear. We assessed the performance of larvae fed on moderately water-stressed Plantago lanceolata in terms of growth, gut microbial composition and immune response. We found that larvae fed on water-stressed plants had better growth, a more heterogeneous bacterial community and a shifted fungal community in the gut, and up-regulated the expression of one candidate immune gene (pelle), whereas survival remained unaffected. Most of the measured traits showed considerable variation due to family structure. Our data suggest that in temperate regions moderate host plant water stress can positively shape resource acquisition of this specialized insect herbivore, potentially by increasing nutrient accessibility or concentration. Potentially, the better larval performance may be mediated by a shift of the microbiota on water-stressed plants, calling for further research especially on the understudied gut fungal community.

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Epiphytes improve host plant water use by microenvironment modification

Functional Ecology ◽

10.1111/1365-2435.12249 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 28 (5) ◽

pp. 1274-1283 ◽

Cited By ~ 38

Author(s):

Daniel E. Stanton ◽

Jackelyn Huallpa Chávez ◽

Luis Villegas ◽

Francisco Villasante ◽

Juan Armesto ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Host Plant ◽

Water Use ◽

Plant Water ◽

Plant Water Use

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Early snowmelt reduces aphid abundance (Aphis asclepiadis) by creating water-stressed host plants (Ligusticum porteri) and altering interactions with ants

Arthropod-Plant Interactions ◽

10.1007/s11829-020-09793-2 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Emily Mooney ◽

Maria Mullins ◽

James Den Uyl ◽

Samantha Trail ◽

Phuong Nguyen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Stress ◽

Snow Cover ◽

Host Plant ◽

Host Plants ◽

Colony Growth ◽

Plant Quality ◽

Plant Water ◽

Plant Water Stress ◽

Ligusticum Porteri ◽

Aphid Abundance

AbstractDeclining snow cover is reshaping ecological communities. Early loss of snow cover initiates changes in key interactions that mediate herbivore abundance, i.e., top-down and bottom-up effects. In this study, we used a field experiment to test the effects of host plant water stress and phenology on the multitrophic interactions that determine aphid abundance. The aphid, Aphis asclepiadis, in our study system colonizes the flowering stalks of the host plant Ligusticum porteri and relies on a protection mutualism with ants. We added snow and water to replicate host plants and tested for a variety of phenological and physiological responses to these treatments. Relative to host plants in ambient conditions, both water and snow addition reduced key signals of water stress (senescence and abscisic acid levels) and increased seed set. While aphid colonies were generally larger with reduced host plant water stress, the ant–aphid mutualism interacted with plant quality in complex ways. Without ant tending, we did not detect differences in aphid colony growth with host plant treatment. When tended by ants, aphid colony growth was greatest on host plants with snow addition. Host plant quality also altered the benefits exchanged in this mutualism. Ant-tended colonies hosted by plants with snow addition produced honeydew enriched in trehalose, which may have decreased both ant and natural enemy abundance. Our results suggest that early loss of snow reduces aphid abundance by creating low-quality, water-stressed host plants, and this effect may be exacerbated by natural enemies and the costs of ant attendance.

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Host Plant-Selection by Helicoverpa-Armigera (Hubner) (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae) - Role of Certain Plant Attributes

Australian Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1071/zo9890675 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 37 (6) ◽

pp. 675 ◽

Cited By ~ 36

Author(s):

S Firempong ◽

MP Zalucki

Keyword(s):

Host Range ◽

Host Plant ◽

Plant Height ◽

Plant Extracts ◽

Water Status ◽

Host Plant Selection ◽

Plant Water ◽

Plant Selection ◽

Lepidoptera Noctuidae

The role of some plant properties in host plant selection by adults of the polyphagous H. armigera were investigated. Those factors found to positively influence host plant selection included presence of flowers, plant height and application of soil fertiliser. The presence of flowers greatly increased a plant's attractiveness to oviposition. Non-hosts, on which larvae did not survive, were readily oviposited on when offered in flower along with known hosts not in flower. The attractiveness of flowers may provide a mechanism for the expansion of host range. However, no effect of crude plant extracts (including various flowers) on oviposition could be detected. The role of chemical attractants is discussed. Tall plants attracted heavy oviposition and it is suggested that moths use silhouette as a cue to locating plants. There was no effect of plant water status on oviposition.

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