熱帯性プラスティシティは、侵略的なミバエの分布拡大中に主要なマイクロRNAによって調節される

Understanding the mechanisms that enable invasive species to expand into novel thermal environments is key to predict their future distribution range under climate change. Plasticity is a key driver behind range expansion during invasion, yet the post-transcriptional regulatory mechanism underlying plasticity during range expansion remains less explored. Here, we performed an integr analysis of phenotypic, transcriptomic, and microRNA (miRNA) changes in a range-expanding invasive insect, Bactrocera dorsalis, under heat and cold acclimation. We found that populations at the invasive front exhibited reduced plasticity in fitness-related traits that were corroborated by genetic assimilation of frontloaded genes. Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis uncovered important modules associated with acute cold tolerance of B. dorsalis and indicated thw gene as a critical network component. Furthermore, thw was found to be regulated by a key miRNA, miR-276b, with its function verified by our dual-luciferase reporter assay and RNAi-mediated knockdown experiment. Our findings suggested that miRNA-mediated regulation of plasticity might be key to allow invasive species to expand into novel thermal environments.