Offspring reverse transcriptome responses to maternal deprivation when reared with pathogens in an insect with facultative family life

Abstract

Offspring of species with facultative family life are able to live with and without parents (i.e. to adjust to extreme changes in their social environment). While these adjustments are well understood on a phenotypic level, their genetic underpinnings remain surprisingly understudied. Investigating gene expression changes in response to parental absence may elucidate the genetic constraints driving evolutionary transitions between solitary and family life. Here, we manipulated maternal presence to observe gene expression changes in the fat body of juvenile European earwigs, an insect with facultative family life. Because parents typically protect offspring against pathogens, expression changes were recorded in pathogen-free and pathogen-exposed environments. We found that manipulating maternal presence changed the expression of 154 genes, including several metabolism and growth-related genes, and that this change depended on pathogen presence. Specifically, localization and cell transporter genes were downregulated in maternal absence without pathogens but upregulated with pathogens. At least one immunity gene (pathogenesis-related protein 5) was affected by pathogen exposure regardless of maternal presence. Overall, our findings explicate how offspring adjust to parental deprivation on a molecular level and reveal that such adjustments heavily depend on pathogens in the environment. This emphasizes the central role of pathogens in family life evolution.

Autoren

Maximilian Körner
Fanny Vogelweith
Romain Libbrecht
Susanne Foitzik
Barbara Feldmeyer
Joël Meunier

DOI

10.1098/rspb.2020.0440

eISSN

1471-2954

ISSN

0962-8452

Ausgabe der Veröffentlichung

1926

Zeitschrift

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Sprache

en

Online publication date

2020

Datum der Veröffentlichung

2020

Status

Published

Herausgeber

The Royal Society

Herausgeber URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.0440

Datum der Datenerfassung

2023

Titel

Offspring reverse transcriptome responses to maternal deprivation when reared with pathogens in an insect with facultative family life

Ausgabe der Zeitschrift

287

Data source: Crossref

Abstract

Offspring of species with facultative family life are able to live with and without parents (i.e. to adjust to extreme changes in their social environment). While these adjustments are well understood on a phenotypic level, their genetic underpinnings remain surprisingly understudied. Investigating gene expression changes in response to parental absence may elucidate the genetic constraints driving evolutionary transitions between solitary and family life. Here, we manipulated maternal presence to observe gene expression changes in the fat body of juvenile European earwigs, an insect with facultative family life. Because parents typically protect offspring against pathogens, expression changes were recorded in pathogen-free and pathogen-exposed environments. We found that manipulating maternal presence changed the expression of 154 genes, including several metabolism and growth-related genes, and that this change depended on pathogen presence. Specifically, localization and cell transporter genes were downregulated in maternal absence without pathogens but upregulated with pathogens. At least one immunity gene (pathogenesis-related protein 5) was affected by pathogen exposure regardless of maternal presence. Overall, our findings explicate how offspring adjust to parental deprivation on a molecular level and reveal that such adjustments heavily depend on pathogens in the environment. This emphasizes the central role of pathogens in family life evolution.

Addresses

Evolutionary Animal Ecology, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany.

Autoren

Maximilian Körner
Fanny Vogelweith
Romain Libbrecht
Susanne Foitzik
Barbara Feldmeyer
Joël Meunier

DOI

10.1098/rspb.2020.0440

eISSN

1471-2954

Externe Identifier

PubMed Identifier: 32345162
PubMed Central ID: PMC7282899

Funding acknowledgements

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft: ME4179/3-1

Open access

false

ISSN

0962-8452

Ausgabe der Veröffentlichung

1926

Zeitschrift

Proceedings. Biological sciences

Schlüsselwörter

Animals
Behavior, Animal
Female
Male
Biological Evolution
Transcriptome
Insecta

Sprache

eng

Medium

Print-Electronic

Online publication date

2020

Paginierung

20200440

Datum der Veröffentlichung

2020

Status

Published

Datum der Datenerfassung

2020

Titel

Offspring reverse transcriptome responses to maternal deprivation when reared with pathogens in an insect with facultative family life.

Sub types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
research-article
Journal Article

Ausgabe der Zeitschrift

287

Files

https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC7282899?pdf=render

Data source: Europe PubMed Central

Abstract

Offspring of species with facultative family life are able to live with and without parents (i.e. to adjust to extreme changes in their social environment). While these adjustments are well understood on a phenotypic level, their genetic underpinnings remain surprisingly understudied. Investigating gene expression changes in response to parental absence may elucidate the genetic constraints driving evolutionary transitions between solitary and family life. Here, we manipulated maternal presence to observe gene expression changes in the fat body of juvenile European earwigs, an insect with facultative family life. Because parents typically protect offspring against pathogens, expression changes were recorded in pathogen-free and pathogen-exposed environments. We found that manipulating maternal presence changed the expression of 154 genes, including several metabolism and growth-related genes, and that this change depended on pathogen presence. Specifically, localization and cell transporter genes were downregulated in maternal absence without pathogens but upregulated with pathogens. At least one immunity gene (pathogenesis-related protein 5) was affected by pathogen exposure regardless of maternal presence. Overall, our findings explicate how offspring adjust to parental deprivation on a molecular level and reveal that such adjustments heavily depend on pathogens in the environment. This emphasizes the central role of pathogens in family life evolution.

Autoren

Maximilian Körner
Fanny Vogelweith
Romain Libbrecht
Susanne Foitzik
Barbara Feldmeyer
Joël Meunier

Autoren-URL

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32345162

DOI

10.1098/rspb.2020.0440

eISSN

1471-2954

Externe Identifier

PubMed Central ID: PMC7282899

Ausgabe der Veröffentlichung

1926

Zeitschrift

Proc Biol Sci

Schlüsselwörter

Forficula auricularia
RNA-seq
immunity
parental care
precocial
social evolution
Animals
Behavior, Animal
Biological Evolution
Female
Insecta
Male
Transcriptome

Sprache

eng

Country

England

Paginierung

20200440

Datum der Veröffentlichung

2020

Status

Published

Datum, an dem der Datensatz öffentlich gemacht wurde

2020

Titel

Offspring reverse transcriptome responses to maternal deprivation when reared with pathogens in an insect with facultative family life.

Sub types

Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Ausgabe der Zeitschrift

287

Data source: PubMed

Offspring reverse transcriptome responses to maternal deprivation when reared with pathogens in an insect with facultative family life

Files

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