How symbiosis and ecological context influence the variable expression of transgenerational wing induction upon fungal infection of aphids

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Wen-Hao Tan, Emory University; Miguel L. Reyes, Clayton State University; Kim L. Hoang, Emory University; Tarik Acevedo, Penn State University; Fredrick Leon, Emory University; Joshua D. Barbosa, Emory University; Nicole Marie Gerardo, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2018-10-26
• Publisher: Public Library of Science
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2018 Tan et al
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0201865
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: PLoS ONE
• ISSN: 1932-6203
• Volume: 13
• Issue: 10
• Start Page: e0201865
• End Page: e0201865
• Grant/Funding Information: This work was partially funded from Emory University’s Open Access Publishing Fund.; This work was supported in part by National Science Foundation (https://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?div=IOS) grant IOS-1149829 to NMG.; MLR was supported by National Institutes of Health / National Institute of General Medical Sciences Institutional Research and Academic Career Development Award (https://www.nigms.nih.gov/Training/CareerDev/Pages/TWDInstRes.aspx)(5K12-GM000680-17), and KH was supported by an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (https://www.nsfgrfp.org/)(DGE-1444932).
• Research Categories: Biology, General

Abstract

Aphids, like most animals, mount a diverse set of defenses against pathogens. For aphids, two of the best studied defenses are symbiont-conferred protection and transgenerational wing induction. Aphids can harbor bacterial symbionts that provide protection against pathogens, parasitoids and predators, as well as against other environmental stressors. In response to signals of danger, aphids also protect not themselves but their offspring by producing more winged than unwinged offspring as a way to ensure that their progeny may be able to escape deteriorating conditions. Such transgenerational wing induction has been studied most commonly as a response to overcrowding of host plants and presence of predators, but recent evidence suggests that pea aphids (Acyrthosiphon pisum) may also begin to produce a greater proportion of winged offspring when infected with fungal pathogens. Here, we explore this phenomenon further by asking how protective symbionts, pathogen dosage and environmental conditions influence this response. Overall, while we find some evidence that protective symbionts can modulate transgenerational wing induction in response to fungal pathogens, we observe that transgenerational wing induction in response to fungal infection is highly variable. That variability cannot be explained entirely by symbiont association, by pathogen load or by environmental stress, leaving the possibility that a complex interplay of genotypic and environmental factors may together influence this trait.