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Hayward SA, Colinet H. Metabolomics as a tool to elucidate biochemical cold adaptation in insects. CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE 2023; 58:101061. [PMID: 37244636 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2023.101061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2023] [Revised: 05/22/2023] [Accepted: 05/23/2023] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
Metabolomics is an incredibly valuable tool in helping understand insect responses to cold. It not only characterizes how low temperature disrupts metabolic homeostasis, but also how it triggers fundamental adaptive responses, for example, homeoviscous adaptation and cryoprotectant accumulation. This review outlines the advantages and disadvantages of different metabolomic technologies (nuclear magnetic resonance- versus mass spectrometry-based) and screening approaches (targeted versus untargeted). We emphasize the importance of time-series and tissue-specific data, as well as the challenges of disentangling insect versus microbiome responses. In addition, we set out the need to move beyond simple correlations between metabolite abundance and tolerance phenotypes by undertaking functional assessments, for example, using dietary supplementation or injections. We highlight studies at the vanguard of employing these approaches, and where key knowledge gaps remain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Scott Al Hayward
- School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
| | - Hervé Colinet
- University of Rennes, CNRS, ECOBIO [(Ecosystèmes, biodiversité, évolution)] - UMR 6553, Rennes, France.
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2
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Abstract
Winter provides many challenges for insects, including direct injury to tissues and energy drain due to low food availability. As a result, the geographic distribution of many species is tightly coupled to their ability to survive winter. In this review, we summarize molecular processes associated with winter survival, with a particular focus on coping with cold injury and energetic challenges. Anticipatory processes such as cold acclimation and diapause cause wholesale transcriptional reorganization that increases cold resistance and promotes cryoprotectant production and energy storage. Molecular responses to low temperature are also dynamic and include signaling events during and after a cold stressor to prevent and repair cold injury. In addition, we highlight mechanisms that are subject to selection as insects evolve to variable winter conditions. Based on current knowledge, despite common threads, molecular mechanisms of winter survival vary considerably across species, and taxonomic biases must be addressed to fully appreciate the mechanistic basis of winter survival across the insect phylogeny.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas M Teets
- Department of Entomology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, USA;
| | - Katie E Marshall
- Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Julie A Reynolds
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
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3
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Acclimation Effects of Natural Daily Temperature Variation on Longevity, Fecundity, and Thermal Tolerance of the Diamondback Moth (Plutella xylostella). INSECTS 2022; 13:insects13040309. [PMID: 35447751 PMCID: PMC9025151 DOI: 10.3390/insects13040309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2022] [Revised: 03/15/2022] [Accepted: 03/18/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Simple Summary Diurnal, monthly, or seasonal temperatures can fluctuate substantially. Daily temperature amplitudes (DTAs) can significantly impact the traits of insects but there is limited evidence from the natural environment. Therefore, we studied the acclimation effects of DTA on the longevity, total fecundity, early fecundity, and thermal tolerance of adult diamondback moths (Plutella xylostella) under environmental conditions. The longevity, total fecundity, early fecundity, and heat thermal tolerance of adults significantly changed under different DTAs. These findings highlight the effects of DTA on the acclimation response in the P.xylostella phenotype, and DTA should be incorporated into prediction models for assessing insect populations and the effects of climate change. Abstract Daily temperature amplitudes (DTAs) significantly affect the ecological and physiological traits of insects. Most studies in this field are based on laboratory experiments, while there is limited research on the effects of changes in DTA on insect phenotypic plasticity under natural conditions. Therefore, we studied the acclimation effects of DTA on the longevity, total fecundity, early fecundity, and the thermal tolerance of adult diamondback moths (Plutella xylostella L.) under naturally occurring environmental conditions. As DTAs increased, male longevity and total fecundity decreased, and early fecundity increased. An increase in DTA was significantly associated with the increased heat coma temperature (CTmax) of both males and females, but had no significant effect on their cold coma temperature (CTmin). Our findings highlight the effects of DTA on the acclimation response of P. xylostella and emphasize the importance of considering DTA in predicting models for assessing insect populations and the effects of climate change.
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Fanter C, Madelaire C, Genereux DP, van Breukelen F, Levesque D, Hindle A. Epigenomics as a paradigm to understand the nuances of phenotypes. J Exp Biol 2022; 225:274619. [PMID: 35258621 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.243411] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Quantifying the relative importance of genomic and epigenomic modulators of phenotype is a focal challenge in comparative physiology, but progress is constrained by availability of data and analytic methods. Previous studies have linked physiological features to coding DNA sequence, regulatory DNA sequence, and epigenetic state, but few have disentangled their relative contributions or unambiguously distinguished causative effects ('drivers') from correlations. Progress has been limited by several factors, including the classical approach of treating continuous and fluid phenotypes as discrete and static across time and environment, and difficulty in considering the full diversity of mechanisms that can modulate phenotype, such as gene accessibility, transcription, mRNA processing and translation. We argue that attention to phenotype nuance, progressing to association with epigenetic marks and then causal analyses of the epigenetic mechanism, will enable clearer evaluation of the evolutionary path. This would underlie an essential paradigm shift, and power the search for links between genomic and epigenomic features and physiology. Here, we review the growing knowledge base of gene-regulatory mechanisms and describe their links to phenotype, proposing strategies to address widely recognized challenges.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cornelia Fanter
- School of Life Sciences, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV 89154, USA
| | - Carla Madelaire
- School of Life Sciences, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV 89154, USA
| | - Diane P Genereux
- Vertebrate Genome Biology, Broad Institute, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | - Frank van Breukelen
- School of Life Sciences, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV 89154, USA
| | - Danielle Levesque
- School of Biology and Ecology, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA
| | - Allyson Hindle
- School of Life Sciences, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV 89154, USA
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Noer NK, Sørensen MH, Colinet H, Renault D, Bahrndorff S, Kristensen TN. Rapid Adjustments in Thermal Tolerance and the Metabolome to Daily Environmental Changes - A Field Study on the Arctic Seed Bug Nysius groenlandicus. Front Physiol 2022; 13:818485. [PMID: 35250620 PMCID: PMC8889080 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2022.818485] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2021] [Accepted: 01/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Laboratory investigations on terrestrial model-species, typically of temperate origin, have demonstrated that terrestrial ectotherms can cope with daily temperature variations through rapid hardening responses. However, few studies have investigated this ability and its physiological basis in the field. Especially in polar regions, where the temporal and spatial temperature variations can be extreme, are hardening responses expected to be important. Here, we examined diurnal adjustments in heat and cold tolerance in the Greenlandic seed bug Nysius groenlandicus by collecting individuals for thermal assessment at different time points within and across days. We found a significant correlation between observed heat or cold tolerance and the ambient microhabitat temperatures at the time of capture, indicating that N. groenlandicus continuously and within short time-windows respond physiologically to thermal changes and/or other environmental variables in their microhabitats. Secondly, we assessed underlying metabolomic fingerprints using GC-MS metabolomics in a subset of individuals collected during days with either low or high temperature variation. Concentrations of metabolites, including sugars, polyols, and free amino acids varied significantly with time of collection. For instance, we detected elevated sugar levels in animals caught at the lowest daily field temperatures. Polyol concentrations were lower in individuals collected in the morning and evening and higher at midday and afternoon, possibly reflecting changes in temperature. Additionally, changes in concentrations of metabolites associated with energetic metabolism were observed across collection times. Our findings suggest that in these extreme polar environments hardening responses are marked and likely play a crucial role for coping with microhabitat temperature variation on a daily scale, and that metabolite levels are actively altered on a daily basis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natasja Krog Noer
- Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark
| | | | - Hervé Colinet
- UMR 6553, CNRS, Ecosystèmes, Biodiversité, Évolution, University of Rennes 1, Rennes, France
| | - David Renault
- UMR 6553, CNRS, Ecosystèmes, Biodiversité, Évolution, University of Rennes 1, Rennes, France
- Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, France
| | - Simon Bahrndorff
- Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark
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Pei J, Xu Y, Zong S, Ren L. Transcriptomic and Metabolomic Data Reveal the Key Metabolic Pathways Affecting Streltzoviella insularis (Staudinger) (Lepidoptera: Cossidae) Larvae During Overwintering. Front Physiol 2021; 12:655059. [PMID: 34220530 PMCID: PMC8250450 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2021.655059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2021] [Accepted: 05/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Streltzoviella insularis (Staudinger) (Lepidoptera: Cossidae) is a woodboring insect feeding on Fraxinus pennsylvanica, Sophora japonica, and Ginkgo biloba, as well as many other species used for urban greening and plain afforestation in northern China, including the temperate north. There is also a risk that S. insularis could spread through the transportation of seedlings, thereby increasing urban greening costs. However, how S. insularis increases the cold tolerance then reduces it to survive winter temperature below 0°C remains unclear. In the transcriptomic of S. insularis, we identified three profiles (profile 25, 27, and 13) whose trends related to the cold tolerance. We detected 1,783 differentially expressed genes (in profile 25) and identified 522 genes enriched in the AMPK signaling pathway. The metabolome analysis identified 122 differential metabolites. We identified four co-pathways, among which "Glycerophospholipid metabolism" was the pathway most enriched in differentially expressed genes and differential metabolites. The AMPK signaling and glycerophospholipid metabolism pathways play key roles in the natural overwintering physiological process of S. insularis larvae.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Shixiang Zong
- Beijing Key Laboratory for Forest Pest Control, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China
| | - Lili Ren
- Beijing Key Laboratory for Forest Pest Control, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China
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Knight K. Dung beetles play hot and cold cycling differently. J Exp Biol 2020. [DOI: 10.1242/jeb.240531] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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