Differential DNA methylation between two wing phenotypes adults of Sogatella furcifera

Abstract

Sogatella furcifera is a major rice pest with wing dimorphism. DNA methylation is an important epigenetic modification that plays a role in gene regulation and phenotype variation in most organisms. The objective of the current research was to survey the frequencies and variation of cytosine methylation at CCGG sequences in macropterous female adults (MFA) and brachypterous female adults (BFA) of S. furcifera, and to determine the occurrence of methylation changes associated with wing phenotypes by using methylation-sensitive amplification polymorphism (MSAP). No differences were found in the average proportions of methylated CCGG sites between MFA and BFA, but there were significant differences for methylation patterns between MFA and BFA. The fully methylated ratio was 5.81% in BFA, much higher than 2.40% in MFA; while the hemi-methylated ratio was 4.35% in BFA, much lower than 8.35% in MFA. These results provide circumstantial evidence that DNA methylation might be related to wing phenotype variation in S. furcifera. We also cloned and got 14 satisfactory sequences, which displayed variable cytosine methylation patterns between MFA and BFA. All these data will facilitate the researches on the epigenetic mechanisms of insect wing polymorphism.

Genotyping-by-sequencing supports a genetic basis for alpine wing-reduction in a New Zealand stonefly

“…There are also known genes responsible for wing patterning and development in model organisms such as Drosophila melanogaster, which may be relevant to intra-specific wing polymorphism 58 . While genetic changes often underlie wing polymorphism,epigenetic changes have also been demonstrated between wing morphs in a planthopper (Sogatella furcifera) 59,60 .…”

Divergent methylation pattern in adult stage between two forms ofTetranychus urticae(Acari: Tetranychidae)

“…Recent studies have shown that phenotypic differences can be explained as methylation differences between individuals (Johnson & Tricker, ; Bonasio et al ., ; Weiner & Toth, ; Zhou et al ., ). The two forms examined in the present study only can be distinguished by body coloration until the female deutonymphs become adults.…”

“…In social insects, cytosine methylation has a critical role in caste specialization (Kucharski et al ., ; Bonasio et al ., ; Weiner et al ., ). In agricultural pests, DNA methylation is the potential cause of the different morphs of green aphids (Dombrovsky et al ., ), and the different wing phenotypes between macropterous and brachypterous females of the white‐backed planthopper (Zhou et al ., ).…”

Different genomic DNA methylation patterns between male and female adults of white-backed planthoppers Sogatella furcifera

“…Genomic DNA methylation in S. furcifera was first investigated in our laboratory in relation to wing phenotype variation (Zhou et al, 2013). Given the importance of adult sex determination, in the present study, we examined the genomic DNA methylation patterns in adult male and female S. furcifera using methylation-sensitive amplification polymorphism (MSAP) analysis, so as to further explore the nature of insect sexual dimorphism from the perspective of epigenetics.…”