title: Cold tolerance of the Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus and its response to epigenetic alterations.
abstract: Phenotypic plasticity is considered as one of the key traits responsible for the establishment of populations of the invasive mosquito Aedes albopictus, an important vector of viral and parasitic pathogens. The successful spread of this species to higher altitudes and latitudes may be explained by its ability to rapidly induce a heritable low-temperature phenotype (cold hardiness in eggs). As a result of the low genetic diversity of founder populations, an epigenetic short-term mechanism has been suggested as the driver of this diversification. We investigated if random epigenetic alterations promoted the cold hardiness of Ae. albopictus eggs from a transgenerational study of two epigenetic agents (genistein and vinclozolin). To this end, we evaluated changes in lethal time for 50% of pharate larvae (Lt50) from eggs exposed to -2°C in two subsequent generations that used a new dose-response test design. We detected a significant diversification of the cold hardiness of eggs (up to 64.5%) that was associated with the epigenetic change in the two subsequent offspring generations. An effect size of epigenetically modulated cold hardiness of this magnitude is likely to have an impact on the spatial distribution of this species. Our results provide a framework for further research on epigenetic temperature adaptation of invasive species to better explain and predict their rapid range expansions.
authors.affiliation: Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Department Adaptation and Climate, Georg-Voigt-Str. 14-16, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Department Aquatic Ecotoxicology, Institute for Ecology, Evolution & Diversity, Max-von-Laue-Str. 13, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Electronic address: kress@bio.uni-frankfurt.de.
authors.forename: Aljoscha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kreß
authors.affiliation: Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Department Adaptation and Climate, Georg-Voigt-Str. 14-16, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Molecular Ecology Group, Institute for Ecology, Evolution & Diversity, Max-von-Laue-Str. 13, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Ann-Marie
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Oppold
authors.affiliation: Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Institute of Occupational Medicine, Social Medicine and Environmental Medicine, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Kuch
authors.affiliation: Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Department Adaptation and Climate, Georg-Voigt-Str. 14-16, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Department Aquatic Ecotoxicology, Institute for Ecology, Evolution & Diversity, Max-von-Laue-Str. 13, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Jörg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Oehlmann
authors.affiliation: Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Institute of Occupational Medicine, Social Medicine and Environmental Medicine, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Müller
mesh_terms: D000330:Aedes / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D003080:Cold Temperature; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D019833:Genistein / Q000008:administration & dosage; D058865:Introduced Species; D007814:Larva / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D010063:Ovum / Q000502:physiology; D010080:Oxazoles / Q000008:administration & dosage; D010641:Phenotype
chemical_list: D010080:Oxazoles; D019833:Genistein; C025643:vinclozolin
keywords: Cold hardiness; Distribution limits; Phenotypic plasticity; Stegomyia albopicta; Winter survival