Geffre Amy C, Liu Ruolin, Manfredini Fabio, Beani Laura, Kathirithamby Jeyaraney, Grozinger Christina M, Toth Amy L
Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA.
Proc Biol Sci. 2017 Apr 12;284(1852). doi: 10.1098/rspb.2017.0029.
Parasites can manipulate host behaviour to increase their own transmission and fitness, but the genomic mechanisms by which parasites manipulate hosts are not well understood. We investigated the relationship between the social paper wasp, , and its parasite, (Insecta: Strepsiptera), to understand the effects of an obligate endoparasitoid on its host's brain transcriptome. Previous research suggests that shifts aspects of host social caste-related behaviour and physiology in ways that benefit the parasitoid. We hypothesized that -infested (stylopized) females would show a shift in caste-related brain gene expression. Specifically, we predicted that stylopized females, who would normally be workers, would show gene expression patterns resembling pre-overwintering queens (gynes), reflecting gyne-like changes in behaviour. We used RNA-sequencing data to characterize patterns of brain gene expression in stylopized females and compared these with those of unstylopized workers and gynes. In support of our hypothesis, we found that stylopized females, despite sharing numerous physiological and life-history characteristics with members of the worker caste, show gyne-shifted brain expression patterns. These data suggest that the parasitoid affects its host by exploiting phenotypic plasticity related to social caste, thus shifting naturally occurring social behaviour in a way that is beneficial to the parasitoid.
寄生虫能够操控宿主行为以增加自身的传播和适应性，但寄生虫操控宿主的基因组机制尚未得到充分理解。我们研究了群居纸黄蜂（Polistes dominula）与其寄生虫（Xenos vesparum，昆虫纲：捻翅目）之间的关系，以了解专性内寄生蜂对其宿主脑转录组的影响。先前的研究表明，Xenos会以有利于寄生蜂的方式改变宿主与社会等级相关的行为和生理特征。我们假设被Xenos感染（被捻翅）的雌性会出现与等级相关的脑基因表达变化。具体而言，我们预测，通常作为工蜂的被捻翅雌性会表现出类似于越冬前蜂王（雌蜂）的基因表达模式，反映出行为上类似雌蜂的变化。我们使用RNA测序数据来表征被捻翅雌性的脑基因表达模式，并将其与未被捻翅的工蜂和雌蜂的基因表达模式进行比较。为支持我们的假设，我们发现，尽管被捻翅雌性与工蜂等级的成员具有许多生理和生活史特征，但它们表现出雌蜂型的脑表达模式。这些数据表明，寄生蜂通过利用与社会等级相关联的表型可塑性来影响其宿主，从而以有利于寄生蜂的方式改变自然发生的社会行为。
