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Related Experiment Video

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Author Spotlight: Investigating the Tolerance of Cabbage Butterflies to Urban Pollutants

Author Spotlight: Investigating the Tolerance of Cabbage Butterflies to Urban Pollutants

Published on: August 18, 2023

Monarch butterflies use an environmentally sensitive, internal timer to control overwintering dynamics.

Delbert A Green^1,2, Marcus R Kronforst¹

¹Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.

Molecular Ecology

|July 25, 2019

Summary

Monarch butterflies use a timed developmental pause (diapause) for winter survival. Researchers identified calcium signaling and epigenetic mechanisms as key to timing diapause termination, crucial for adapting to climate change.

Keywords:

diapause ecdysone insulin signalling juvenile hormone monarch butterfly

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Area of Science:

* Insect physiology and developmental biology
* Animal behavior and migration
* Climate change adaptation in wildlife

Background:

* Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) exhibit a migratory diapause, a crucial adaptation for winter survival.
* The precise environmental and physiological mechanisms timing diapause termination remain poorly understood.
* Understanding diapause timing is vital for predicting monarch population responses to climate change.

Purpose of the Study:

* To investigate the environmental and physiological factors controlling the termination of monarch butterfly diapause.
* To identify molecular mechanisms underlying the internal diapause termination timer.
* To elucidate how environmental cues integrate with internal physiological processes to regulate diapause timing.

Main Methods:

* Subjecting western North American monarchs to controlled environmental chamber conditions.
* Employing comparative transcriptomics to identify molecular controllers of diapause termination.
* Analyzing hormonal signaling pathways including juvenile hormone (JH) and ecdysteroids.

Main Results:

* Calcium signaling was identified as a mediator of environmental sensitivity in the diapause timer.
* Juvenile hormone (JH) signaling showed spontaneous changes, preparing for future environmental responses.
* Epigenetic mechanisms are implicated as the proximate timing mechanism for diapause termination.

Conclusions:

* The study modularized components of an internal diapause termination timer, highlighting calcium signaling and epigenetics.
* Key hormonal pathways (ecdysteroid, JH, insulin/IGF) are targets of the diapause program.
* Findings provide insights into biological timing and monarch butterfly adaptation to climate change.