Affiliation:
1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
2. Faculty of Environment, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, British Columbia, Canada
Abstract
Dispersal flights by the mountain pine beetle have allowed range expansion and major damage to pine stands in western Canada. We asked what the genetic and transcriptional basis of mountain pine beetle dispersal capacity is. Using flight mills, RNA-seq and a targeted association study, we compared strong-flying, weak-flying, and non-flying female beetles from the recently colonized northern end of their range. Nearly 3,000 genes were differentially expressed between strong and weak flying beetles, while weak fliers and nonfliers did not significantly differ. The differentially expressed genes were mainly associated with lipid metabolism, muscle maintenance, oxidative stress response, detoxification, endocrine function, and flight behavior. Three variant loci, two in the coding region of genes, were significantly associated with flight capacity but these genes had no known functional link to flight. Several differentially expressed gene systems may be important for sustained flight, while other systems are downregulated during dispersal and likely to conserve energy before host colonization. The candidate genes and SNPs identified here will inform further studies and management of mountain pine beetle, as well as contribute to understanding the mechanisms of insect dispersal flights.
Funder
Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada
TRIA Network
NSERC Discovery Grant
Subject
General Agricultural and Biological Sciences,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology,General Medicine,General Neuroscience
Cited by
1 articles.
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