title: Two insulin receptors determine alternative wing morphs in planthoppers.
abstract: Wing polyphenism is an evolutionarily successful feature found in a wide range of insects. Long-winged morphs can fly, which allows them to escape adverse habitats and track changing resources, whereas short-winged morphs are flightless, but usually possess higher fecundity than the winged morphs. Studies on aphids, crickets and planthoppers have revealed that alternative wing morphs develop in response to various environmental cues, and that the response to these cues may be mediated by developmental hormones, although research in this area has yielded equivocal and conflicting results about exactly which hormones are involved. As it stands, the molecular mechanism underlying wing morph determination in insects has remained elusive. Here we show that two insulin receptors in the migratory brown planthopper Nilaparvata lugens, InR1 and InR2, have opposing roles in controlling long wing versus short wing development by regulating the activity of the forkhead transcription factor Foxo. InR1, acting via the phosphatidylinositol-3-OH kinase (PI(3)K)-protein kinase B (Akt) signalling cascade, leads to the long-winged morph if active and the short-winged morph if inactive. InR2, by contrast, functions as a negative regulator of the InR1-PI(3)K-Akt pathway: suppression of InR2 results in development of the long-winged morph. The brain-secreted ligand Ilp3 triggers development of long-winged morphs. Our findings provide the first evidence of a molecular basis for the regulation of wing polyphenism in insects, and they are also the first demonstration--to our knowledge--of binary control over alternative developmental outcomes, and thus deepen our understanding of the development and evolution of phenotypic plasticity.
authors: State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology, Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
authors: Hai-Jun
authors: HJ
authors: Xu
authors: State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology, Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
authors: Jian
authors: J
authors: Xue
authors: State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology, Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
authors: Bo
authors: B
authors: Lu
authors: State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology, Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
authors: Xue-Chao
authors: XC
authors: Zhang
authors: State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology, Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
authors: Ji-Chong
authors: JC
authors: Zhuo
authors: State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology, Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
authors: Shu-Fang
authors: SF
authors: He
authors: State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology, Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
authors: Xiao-Fang
authors: XF
authors: Ma
authors: State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology, Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
authors: Ya-Qin
authors: YQ
authors: Jiang
authors: State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology, Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
authors: Hai-Wei
authors: HW
authors: Fan
authors: State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology, Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
authors: Ji-Yu
authors: JY
authors: Xu
authors: State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology, Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
authors: Yu-Xuan
authors: YX
authors: Ye
authors: State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology, Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
authors: Peng-Lu
authors: PL
authors: Pan
authors: State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology, Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
authors: Qiao
authors: Q
authors: Li
authors: State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology, Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
authors: Yan-Yuan
authors: YY
authors: Bao
authors: Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA.
authors: H Frederik
authors: HF
authors: Nijhout
authors: State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology and Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology, Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
authors: Chuan-Xi
authors: CX
authors: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors / Q000172:deficiency / Q000378:metabolism; D006430:Hemiptera / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D007328:Insulin / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / Q000378:metabolism; D011972:Receptor, Insulin / Q000172:deficiency / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014921:Wings, Animal / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000201:enzymology / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors; D007328:Insulin; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases; D011972:Receptor, Insulin; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt