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Mass-Rearing and Molecular Studies in Tortricidae Pest Insects
Published on: March 25, 2022
Comparative genomics and full-length transcriptome profiling of wing morphs in Tetrix grossus (Orthoptera:
Rongjiao Zhang1, Taihang Xu1, Delong Guan1
1Guangxi Key Laboratory of Sericulture Ecology and Applied Intelligent Technology, Guangxi Collaborative Innovation Center of Modern Sericulture and Silk, Guangxi Colleges Universities Key Laboratory of Exploitation and Utilization of Microbial and Botanical Resources, School of Chemistry and Bioengineering, Hechi University, Hechi, 546300, China.
None:
Wing polymorphism represents a paradigmatic dispersal-reproduction trade-off, yet its molecular basis remains uncharacterised in the phylogenetically distant pygmy grasshoppers (Tetrigidae). Here we integrate comparative genomics across ten orthopteran species with full-length transcriptomics of long-winged (FL) and short-winged (FS) Tetrix grossus. OrthoFinder recovered 118 orthogroups specific to T. grossus. Against a backdrop of pronounced gene-family contraction (36 expansions versus 222 contractions; net -186, mirrored at the ancestral Tetrix node, +37/-140), we identified an ancestral, Tetrix-specific expansion of hormone-regulation (12 genes; fold enrichment 7.93) and lipid/carbohydrate-metabolic families organised into syntenic clusters, alongside 513 positively selected genes enriched for integrin-mediated cell adhesion (6 genes), a process relevant to epithelial and appendage morphogenesis. Full-length transcriptomics of one long-winged (FL) and one short-winged (FS) adult female detected 7530 (FL) and 7515 (FS) expressed genes, with 794 FL- and 776 FS-restricted transcriptome-derived SNP-associated genes. The FL morph was enriched for an EGFR/Ras-Rho developmental-patterning axis and neuromuscular flight genes, whereas the FS morph was enriched for insulin/peptide-hormone response and growth-regulatory loci. Overall, we present genomic resources and testable hypotheses concerning the evolution and regulation of wing morphs in Tetrigidae rather than a validated genetic architecture of wing-morph determination.
