The Gene Is Involved in the Presence of Wings and Explorative Behaviours in Parthenogenetic Females of the Aphid .

The gene () encodes for a cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP)-dependent protein kinase involved in behavioural plasticity in aphids and in other insects. In this paper, we analysed the complete sequence in eight clones of the peach potato aphid reporting the presence of nonsense and frameshift mutations in three studied clones characterized by a reduced number of winged females and by the absence of exploratory behaviours. Quantitative PCR experiments evidenced similar results in clones possessing genes with a conserved coding sequence, but low expression levels. The comparison of the transcriptional level in and showed very different expression in the two studied clones so that our data did not support a previous hypothesis suggesting that a differential expression was related to ecological specialization of . In view of its role in both the dispersal of winged females and exploratory behaviours, the screening of the sequences could be useful for predicting invasions of cultivated areas by peach potato aphids.