A core tenant in the field of ecological immunology is that immune responses trade off with other physiological functions due to resource allocation costs. Caterpillars, for example, tend to exhibit reduced immune responses when reared on more toxic food plants due to a cost from detoxifying or sequestering secondary metabolites, also known as the ‘vulnerable host hypothesis’. However, support for this hypothesis is mixed, and studies have not yet mechanistically isolated the relative contributions of total plant defences, specific metabolites or macro‐nutritional quality. We used the tobacco hornworm Manduca sexta, a specialist herbivore on plants in the nightshade family (Solanaceae), to investigate trade‐offs in immune response. This system is ideal given the availability of solanaceous plant lines varying in general (i.e. jasmonate‐induced) and specific (i.e. nicotine) resistance traits. We also applied a geometric diet stoichiometry approach to examine how phytochemical toxicity and nutritional quality interactively impact insect immunity and performance. We predicted that as plant toxicity increased, immune activity and herbivore performance would decrease. Increasing food plant toxicity reduced insect growth and development, as predicted, but contrary to our hypothesis, plant toxicity did not trade off with immune parameters. Surprisingly, specific plant chemicals, in this case nicotine, appeared immunotherapeutic, stimulating the phenoloxidase (PO) immune response of M. sexta. Available nutrients in artificial diets, mainly protein, also strongly impacted insect growth, but did not affect PO activity, while diets supplemented with nicotine enhanced the PO and melanization response. This work highlights how specific secondary metabolites, and not overall plant toxicity, impact the immune response. Importantly, our data also suggest an alternative mechanism (i.e. immune enhancement) for reduced parasitoid performance when reared from hosts on toxic plants via tritrophic interactions. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

Traditional breeding techniques, applied incrementally over thousands of years, have yielded huge benefits in the characteristics of agricultural animals. This is a result of significant, measurable changes to the genomes of those animal species and breeds. Genome editing techniques may now be applied to achieve targeted DNA sequence alterations, with the potential to affect traits of interest to production of agricultural animals in just one generation. New opportunities arise to improve characteristics difficult to achieve or not amenable to traditional breeding, including disease resistance, and traits that can improve animal welfare, reduce environmental impact, or mitigate impacts of climate change. Countries and supranational institutions are in the process of defining regulatory approaches for genome edited animals and can benefit from sharing approaches and experiences to institute progressive policies in which regulatory oversight is scaled to the particular level of risk involved. To facilitate information sharing and discussion on animal biotechnology, an international community of researchers, developers, breeders, regulators, and communicators recently held a series of seven virtual workshop sessions on applications of biotechnology for animal agriculture, food and environmental safety assessment, regulatory approaches, and market and consumer acceptance. In this report, we summarize the topics presented in the workshop sessions, as well as discussions coming out of the breakout sessions. This is framed within the context of past and recent scientific and regulatory developments. This is a pivotal moment for determination of regulatory approaches and establishment of trust across the innovation through-chain, from researchers, developers, regulators, breeders, farmers through to consumers.

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BackgroundMale parasitic wasps attract females with a courtship song produced by rapid wing fanning. Songs have been described for several parasitic wasp species; however, beyond association with wing fanning, the mechanism of sound generation has not been examined. We characterized the male courtship song of Cotesia congregata (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) and investigated the biomechanics of sound production.Methods and Principal FindingsCourtship songs were recorded using high-speed videography (2,000 fps) and audio recordings. The song consists of a long duration amplitude-modulated “buzz” followed by a series of pulsatile higher amplitude “boings,” each decaying into a terminal buzz followed by a short inter-boing pause while wings are stationary. Boings have higher amplitude and lower frequency than buzz components. The lower frequency of the boing sound is due to greater wing displacement. The power spectrum is a harmonic series dominated by wing repetition rate ∼220 Hz, but the sound waveform indicates a higher frequency resonance ∼5 kHz. Sound is not generated by the wings contacting each other, the substrate, or the abdomen. The abdomen is elevated during the first several wing cycles of the boing, but its position is unrelated to sound amplitude. Unlike most sounds generated by volume velocity, the boing is generated at the termination of the wing down stroke when displacement is maximal and wing velocity is zero. Calculation indicates a low Reynolds number of ∼1000.Conclusions and SignificanceAcoustic pressure is proportional to velocity for typical sound sources. Our finding that the boing sound was generated at maximal wing displacement coincident with cessation of wing motion indicates that it is caused by acceleration of the wing tips, consistent with a dipole source. The low Reynolds number requires a high wing flap rate for flight and predisposes wings of small insects for sound production.