Body color plasticity of Diaphorina citri reflects a response to environmental stress

• Published in: Insect science 2024-06, Vol.31 (3), p.937-952
• Main Authors: Fan, Jiayao, Shang, Feng, Pan, Huimin, Yuan, Chenyang, Liu, Tianyuan, Yi, Long, Wang, Jinjun, Dou, Wei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: amino acid metabolism; Amino acids; Animals; body color; Body weight; Carbohydrate metabolism; Carbohydrates; Color; Diaphorina citri; dinotefuran; Ecological effects; Energy metabolism; Environmental stress; fatty acid metabolism; Fatty acids; Gene expression; gene expression regulation; Genes; Glycosidases; Hemiptera - genetics; Hemiptera - metabolism; Hemiptera - physiology; Hsp70 protein; Hsp90 protein; Insecticides; insects; Low temperature; Metabolism; metabolome; Metabolomics; phenotypic plasticity; phospholipases; Pigmentation; polyphenism; Stress response; Stress, Physiological; temperature; trade‐off; Transcriptome; Transcriptomics; Triacylglycerol lipase; Triglycerides; Trypsin
• ISSN: 1672-9609; 1744-7917; 1744-7917
• DOI: 10.1111/1744-7917.13272

Body color polyphenism is common in Diaphorina citri. Previous studies compared physiological characteristics in D. citri, but the ecological and biological significance of its body color polyphenism remains poorly understood. We studied the ecological and molecular effects of stressors related to body color in D. citri. Crowding or low temperature induced a high proportion of gray morphs, which had smaller bodies, lower body weight, and greater susceptibility to the insecticide dinotefuran. We performed transcriptomic and metabolomics analysiis of 2 color morphs in D. citri. Gene expression dynamics revealed that the differentially expressed genes were predominantly involved in energy metabolism, including fatty acid metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and carbohydrate metabolism. Among these genes, plexin, glycosidase, phospholipase, take out, trypsin, and triacylglycerol lipase were differentially expressed in 2 color morphs, and 6 hsps (3 hsp70, hsp83, hsp90, hsp68) were upregulated in gray morphs. The metabolome data showed that blue morphs exhibited a higher abundance of fatty acid and amino acid, whereas the content of carbohydrates was elevated in gray morphs. This study partly explains the body color polyphenism of D. citri and provides insights into the molecular changes of stress response of D. citri. The body color plasticity (color shift from blue to gray) of Diaphorina citri is proportionally induced by suboptimal conditions. A conjoint analysis of biological characteristics, metabolome, and transcriptome profiling indicates that the gray morph reduces some less essential biochemical processes, minimize energy costs and upregulate hsps expression to increase tolerance to environmental stress.