title: Environment exploration and colonization behavior of the pea aphid associated with the expression of the foraging gene.
abstract: Aphids respond to specific environmental cues by producing alternative morphs, a phenomenon called polyphenism, but also by modulating their individual behavior even within the same morph. This complex plasticity allows a rapid adaptation of individuals to fluctuating environmental conditions, but the underlying genetic and molecular mechanisms remain largely unknown. The foraging gene is known to be associated with behavior in various species and has been shown to mediate the behavioral shift induced by environmental changes in some insects. In this study, we investigated the function of this gene in the clonal forms of the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum by identifying and cloning cDNA variants, as well as analyzing their expression levels in developmental morphs and behavioral variants. Our results indicate that the expression of foraging changes at key steps of the aphid development. This gene is also highly expressed in sedentary wingless adult morphs reared under crowded conditions, probably just before they start walking and foraging. The cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG) enzyme activity measured in the behavioral variants correlates with the level of foraging expression. Altogether, our results suggest that foraging could act to promote the shift from a sedentary to an exploratory behavior, being thus involved in the behavioral plasticity of the pea aphid.
authors.affiliation: INRA (Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique), UMR 1355 Institut Sophia Agrobiotech, Sophia-Antipolis, France. sophie.tares@sophia.inra.fr
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tarès
authors.forename: Laury
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Arthaud
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Amichot
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Robichon
mesh_terms: D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001042:Aphids / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D017869:Cyclic GMP-Dependent Protein Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D007527:Isoenzymes / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D018532:Pisum sativum / Q000469:parasitology; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D019476:Insect Proteins; D007527:Isoenzymes; D017869:Cyclic GMP-Dependent Protein Kinases