Environmentally induced chromosome elimination of aphids

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26891026
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Genetics/Chromosome dynamics
• Research Institution: National Institute for Basic Biology
• Principal Investigator: OGAWA Kota 基礎生物学研究所, 生物機能解析センター, NIBBリサーチフェロー (40733960)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-08-29 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 染色体放出 / 環境応答 / トランスクリプトーム / エンドウヒゲナガアブラムシ / ネアブラムシ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Most aphids show reproductive polyphenism, that is, they alternate their reproductive modes from parthenogenesis to sexual reproduction. Parthenogenetic oocytes can develop into various morphs, including viviparous and oviparous females and males, depending on the maternal physiological states that are affected by surrounding environments.
To reveal the regulatory mechanisms determining developmental fates of parthenogenetic oocytes depending on maternal conditions, transcriptomic analysis of the germaria was carried out. In germaria in which males are produced with X-chromosome reduction, many genes were highly expressed in comparison with the other categories producing females. Furthermore, histone genes and aphid-specific duplicated genes were identified as candidates for the fate determination based on the Gene-Ontology-based enrichment analysis and differential expression analysis. The gene duplication is suggested to enable aphids to acquire the drastic polyphenism.

Free Research Field

進化発生学