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Systematics, Evolution, and Biodiversity

Member Symposium

Coverage of the Good and the Bad: The Genomes and Genomics of Pollinators and Pests

Transcriptional landscape of early diapause in field-collected Colorado potato beetles

Tuesday, November 15, 2022

10:40 AM – 10:55 AM PT

Location: Vancouver Convention Centre, Meeting Room 119/120

Presenting Author(s)

Alex S. Torson

Research Computational Biologist
USDA-ARS
London, Ontario, Canada

Co-Author(s)

KW

Kirsten Warcup

North Dakota State University
Fargo, North Dakota

Co-author(s)

Dm

Dacotah melicher

North Dakota State University
Fargo, North Dakota

Co-Author(s)

GY

George D. Yocum

Research Physiologist
USDA-ARS
Fargo, North Dakota
Joseph P. Rinehart

Research Biologist
USDA-ARS
Fargo, North Dakota

To cope with winter stress, many insects in temperate environments enter diapause. Diapause is characterized by a developmental arrest, decreased metabolic rate, and increased stress tolerance. Many of the phenotypic changes that occur during diapause are well understood, but less is known about their underlying physiological mechanisms and how these mechanisms might differ between sexes – especially in species that enter a reproductive diapause as adults. Here, we used RNA-seq to compare gene expression profiles of field-collected diapausing and non-diapausing Colorado potato beetle males and females. We observed significant sex-specific gene expression profiles, a global decrease in the expression of genes related to aerobic metabolism, evidence of a G2/M cell-cycle arrest, and differential expression patterns of genes involved in the insulin and FOXO signaling pathways, supporting their central role in diapause regulation.