Adaptive phenotypic plasticity of gypsy moth digestive enzymes

Abstract

The adaptiveness of plasticity of digestive enzyme responses to allelochemical stress was tested on 32 full-sib families of gypsy moth larvae from an oak forest population (the Quercus population) and 26 families from a locust-tree forest (the Robinia population), reared either on control diet, or on tannin-supplemented diet. Using the duration of larval development as an indirect measure of fitness, phenotypic selection analyses revealed that lower specific activities of total proteases and trypsin, and higher specific activity of leucine aminopeptidase were adaptive for both populations in the control environment. Plasticity was only shown to be costly for total proteases and trypsin activity in Quercus larvae. In a stressful environment, the most apparent adaptive response was a significant increase in lipase activity. There was no plasticity cost for lipase activity. The two populations differed in the direction of selection acting on α-glucosidase activity, which favoured decreased activity in Quercus larvae and increased activity in Robinia larvae in the control environment. α-glucosidase activity in Quercus larvae is characterized by cost of homeostasis, while cost of plasticity was shown for Robinia larvae. The results obtained on the plasticity of digestive enzyme activity indicate how this generalist species copes with variation in plant allelochemicals.

Evidence of selection on phenotypic plasticity and cost of plasticity in response to host-feeding sources in the major Chagas disease vector Triatoma infestans

“…Conversely, we found no consistent pattern of selection on phenotypic plasticity between female and male fitness components. Although adaptive plasticity has become widely recognized as an important component of phenotypic response to variations in environmental factors (e.g., Baythavong and Stanton, 2010;Mrdaković et al, 2014;Via et al, 1995), this appears to be the first study that may demonstrate possible selection on phenotypic plasticity and costs of plasticity in an insect species in response to variations in host-feeding sources.…”

“…In the aphid Myzus persicae, strong selection for larger body size occurred among individuals reared on an unfavorable host plant (Peppe and Lomônaco, 2003), whereas in the gypsy moth Lymantria dispar phenotypic selection analyses revealed that specific activities of digestive enzymes were adaptive (Mrdaković et al, 2014).…”

“…The cost of phenotypic plasticity is related to the lower fitness that more plastic families display when compared with less plastic families in a given environment (Stinchcombe et al, 2004;van Kleunen et al, 2000). Evidence for the cost of plasticity was reported in Drosophila melanogaster (Krebs and Feder, 1997); in larval wood frogs, Rana sylvatica, in the presence of aquatic predators (Relyea, 2002); in gypsy moth larvae related to digestive enzymes (Mrdaković et al, 2014), whereas scant evidence of costs of plasticity in response to predators was recorded in the crustacean Daphnia pulex (Scheiner and Berrigan, 1998).…”

Phenotypic variation in food utilization in an outbreak insect herbivore

“…Maternal effects are in turn a special form of phenotypic plasticity where the transmission of maternal factors may affect the phenotype of the offspring (Mousseau & Dingle, ). For example, it has been reported that Lymantria disspar L. (Lepidoptera: Erebidae) expresses plasticity in digestive enzyme activity, which allow the insect to feed on different hosts’ foliage that contains different allelochemicals (Lazarevic et al ., ; Mrdakovic et al ., ). Furthermore, this kind of adaptation may be reversed if the conditions return to their original state (Thompson, ).…”

Phenotypic Plasticity of HSP70s Gene Expression during Diapause: Signs of Evolutionary Responses to Cold Stress among Soybean Pod Borer Populations (Leguminivora glycinivorella) in Northeast of China

“…Because hsp70 is a plasticity gene, understanding the function of hsp70s could supply a good theoretical foundation for understanding insect adaptability to the environment [28] , [29] , [30] . To date, the homologous genes of hsp70s in relation to phenotypic plasticity have been studied in Rhagoletis cerasi , Calliphora vicina , Lymantria dispar and Melitaea cinxia [19] , [31] , [32] , [33] . However, the variation between conspecifics of different geographical populations has not been widely assessed [34] .…”