Extensive Myzus Cerasi Transcriptional Changes Associated with Detoxification 2 Genes Upon Primary to Secondary Host Alternation 3 4 5 Peter Thorpe1, Carmen M
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bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/366450; this version posted July 10, 2018. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. 1 Extensive Myzus cerasi transcriptional changes associated with detoxification 2 genes upon primary to secondary host alternation 3 4 5 Peter Thorpe1, Carmen M. Escudero-Martinez1,2, Sebastian Eves-van den Akker3, Jorunn 6 I.B. Bos1,2 7 8 9 1Cell and Molecular Sciences, The James Hutton Institute, Invergowrie, Dundee, DD2 10 5DA, UK 11 2Division of Plant Sciences, School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee 12 3Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, CB2 3EA, UK 13 14 15 *Corresponding Author: 16 [email protected] 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 1 bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/366450; this version posted July 10, 2018. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. 30 Abstract 31 32 Background 33 Aphids are phloem-feeding insects that cause yield losses to crops globally. These insects 34 feature complex life cycles, which in the case of many agriculturally important species 35 involves the use of primary and secondary host plant species. The switching between 36 winter or primary hosts, on which overwintering eggs are laid upon sexual reproduction, 37 and the secondary hosts, on which aphids reproduce asexually by parthenogenesis, is 38 called host alternation. Here, we used Myzus cerasi (black cherry aphid), which 39 overwinters on cherry trees and in summer spreads to herbaceous plant species, to 40 assess aphid transcriptional changes that occur upon host alternation. 41 Results 42 Adaptation experiments of M. cerasi collected from local cherry tress to reported 43 secondary host species revealed low survival rates when aphids were moved to two 44 secondary host species. Moreover, aphids were unable to survive on one of the reported 45 hosts (Land cress) unless first adapted to another secondary host (cleavers). 46 Transcriptome analyses of populations adapted to the primary host cherry and two 47 secondary host species showed extensive transcriptional plasticity to host alternation, with 48 predominantly genes involved in oxidation-reduction differentially regulated. Most of the 49 differentially expressed genes across the M. cerasi populations from the different hosts 50 were duplicated and we found evidence for differential exon usage. In contrast, we 51 observed only limited transcriptional to secondary host switching. 52 Conclusion 53 Aphid host alternation between summer and winter host plant species is an intriguing 54 feature of aphid life cycles that is not well understood, especially at the molecular level. 55 Here we show that, under controlled conditions, M. cerasi adaptation from primary to 56 secondary host species does not readily occur and involves extensive changes in aphid 57 gene expression. Our data suggests that different sets of genes involved in detoxification 58 are required to feed from primary versus secondary host species. 2 bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/366450; this version posted July 10, 2018. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. 59 Background 60 61 Aphids are phloem-feeding insects that belong to the order Hemiptera. Insects within this 62 order feature distinctive mouthparts, or stylets, that in the case of phytophagous insects, 63 are used to pierce plant tissues and obtain nutrients from the plant phloem. One striking 64 feature of the complex life cycle of about 10 % of aphid species is the seasonal host 65 switching between unrelated primary (winter) and secondary (summer) host plants, also 66 called host alternation or heteroecy [1]; [2]. Host alternating aphids predominantly use 67 woody plants as their primary hosts, on which (overwintering) eggs are laid, from which the 68 first generation of aphids, or fundatrices, emerge in spring. The fundatrices, and their 69 offspring, reproduce by parthenogenesis (asexual reproduction), giving birth to live 70 nymphs. Winged forms (alate) will migrate to secondary host plants over the summer 71 months where the aphid populations will go through multiple parthenogenic generations. In 72 autumn, sexual female and male aphids will reproduce sexually and overwintering eggs 73 are laid on the primary host. Exceptions to this general life cycle exist, with some aphids 74 for example having multi-year cycles [3]. 75 76 Heteroecy in aphids has independently arisen in different aphid lineages throughout 77 evolutionary history [4] with monoecy (with the entire life cycle taking place on one plant 78 species) on trees thought to be the ancestral state. Many different hypotheses explain the 79 maintenance of heteroecy and driving factors described include nutritional optimization, 80 oviposition sites, natural enemies, temperature tolerance, and fundatrix specialization [4]. 81 With many important agricultural crops being aphid secondary hosts, understanding how 82 aphids are able to switch between their primary and secondary hosts will provide better 83 insight into the mechanisms of crop infestation. It is likely that switching between host plant 84 species requires aphids to adapt to differences in host nutritional status as well as 85 potential differences in plant defense mechanisms against insects. Host plant 86 specialization in the pea aphid species complex is associated with differences in genomic 87 regions encompassing predicted salivary genes as well as olfactory receptors [5]. 88 Moreover, adaptation of M. persicae to different secondary host plant species involves 89 gene expression changes, including of genes predicted to encode for cuticular proteins, 90 cathepsin B protease, UDP-glycosyltransferases and P450 monooxygenases [6]. 91 Analyses of gene expression differences between Hyalopterus persikonus (mealy aphids) 92 collected from primary versus secondary host plant species under field conditions showed 93 that genes with predicted functions in detoxification, but also predicted effector genes, 3 bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/366450; this version posted July 10, 2018. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. 94 required for parasitism, were differentially regulated [7]. However, a detailed 95 understanding of how aphids respond through the process of host alternation remains 96 unclear. 97 98 Myzus cerasi, or black cherry aphid, is a host-alternating aphid that uses mainly Prunus 99 cerasus (Morello cherry) and Prunus avium (sweet cherry), but also other Prunus species 100 as primary hosts and several herbaceous plants (Gallium spp., Veronica spp., and 101 cruciferous species) as secondary hosts [8] [9]. Infestation can cause significant damage 102 on cherry trees, due to leaf curling, and shoot deformation, pseudogall formation, as well 103 as fruit damage. Recently, the genome of M. cerasi was sequenced, providing novel 104 insights into the potential parasitism genes as well as genome evolution [10]. The 105 increasing availability of genomics resources for aphids, including M. cerasi, facilitates 106 further understanding of aphid biology, including the processes involves in host 107 alternation. 108 109 In this study, we adapted M. cerasi aphids collected from local cherry trees (primary hosts) 110 to secondary hosts Galium aparine (cleavers) and Barbarea verna (Land cress) and 111 assessed differences in aphid transcriptomes upon adaptation. We found that aphids 112 collected from their primary host differed in their ability to adapt to secondary host plant 113 species. The adaptation from primary to secondary host plant species involved extensive 114 transcriptional changes in M. cerasi, especially with regards to genes involved in 115 detoxification. However, we only observed limited transcriptional changes between M. 116 cerasi adapted to the two different secondary host plant species. 117 118 Results and discussion 119 120 Myzus cerasi host alternation under laboratory conditions is associated with low 121 survival rates 122 123 To determine whether transcriptional plasticity plays a potential role during primary to 124 secondary host alternation, we used the aphid species M. cerasi, which can be found on 125 its primary host, cherry, in spring, and uses several herbaceous secondary host species 126 over the summer [9]. When attempting to establish a colony of M. cerasi from populations 127 occurring on local cherry trees, we observed differences in survival rates upon transfer to 128 reported secondary host plant species. While aphids were unable to survive transfer from 129 primary host cherry to Land cress (Barbarea verna), we observed a 10%-20% survival rate 4 bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/366450; this version posted July 10, 2018. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer