Plasticity for the win: Flexible transcriptional response to host plant switches in the comma butterfly ( Polygonia c‐album )

作者：Katharina Schneider, Rachel Steward, Maria de la Paz Celorio‐Mancera, Niklas Janz, Dick Moberg, Christopher W. Wheat, Sören Nylin · 发表于：Molecular Ecology · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1111/mec.17479 · 被引用次数：4 · 研究领域：Lepidoptera: Biology and Taxonomy、Plant and animal studies、Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior

Generalist plant-feeding insects are characterised by a broad host repertoire that can comprise several families or even different orders of plants. The genetic and physiological mechanisms underlying the use of such a wide host range are still not fully understood. Earlier studies indicate that the consumption of different host plants is associated with host-specific gene expression profiles. It remained, however, unclear if and how larvae can alter these profiles in the case of a changing host environment. Using the polyphagous comma butterfly (Polygonia c-album) we show that larvae can adjust their transcriptional profiles in response to a new host plant. The switch to some of the host plants, however, resulted in a larger transcriptional response and, thus, seems to be more challenging. At a physiological level, no correspondence for these patterns could be found in larval performance. This suggests that a high transcriptional but also phenotypic flexibility are essential for the use of a broad and diverse host range. We furthermore propose that host switch tests in the laboratory followed by transcriptomic investigations can be a valuable tool to examine not only plasticity in host use but also subtle and/or transient trade-offs in the evolution of host plant repertoires.