Resource availability modulates gene expression across life stages in a migratory butterfly
Natural populations are in constant need of balancing resource allocation to compensate for seasonal environmental variation. In many insects, a well-established trade-off between migration and reproduction exists. While this trade-off has been characterized phenotypically for decades, the underlying regulatory pathways are poorly understood. Here, we examined how resource-related environmental cues shape transcription across development in the long-distance migrant butterfly Vanessa cardui. In a multi-cue, developmental stage-specific design, adult females were exposed to host-plant presence or absence, while larvae experienced food limitation or crowding. Adult exposure to host plants was associated with differential expression in ecdysteroid and juvenile-hormone pathways, consistent with endocrine regulation of reproductive readiness and predictions of the oogenesis–flight syndrome. Larval resource limitation altered developmental and metabolic pathways, suggesting molecular predispositions and potential carry-over effects to adult traits. Across all contrasts, metabolism emerged as a shared axis linking responses across life stages. Together, our results show that resource-driven cues leave both stage-specific and general transcriptional signatures that connect environmental context with the molecular basis of migratory behavior.
Natural populations are in constant need of balancing resource allocation to compensate for seasonal environmental variation. In many insects, a well-established trade-off between migration and reproduction exists. While this trade-off has been characterized phenotypically for decades, the underlying regulatory pathways are poorly understood. Here, we examined how resource-related environmental cues shape transcription across development in the long-distance migrant butterfly Vanessa cardui. In a multi-cue, developmental stage-specific design, adult females were exposed to host-plant presence or absence, while larvae experienced food limitation or crowding. Adult exposure to host plants was associated with differential expression in ecdysteroid and juvenile-hormone pathways, consistent with endocrine regulation of reproductive readiness and predictions of the oogenesis–flight syndrome. Larval resource limitation altered developmental and metabolic pathways, suggesting molecular predispositions and potential carry-over effects to adult traits. Across all contrasts, metabolism emerged as a shared axis linking responses across life stages. Together, our results show that resource-driven cues leave both stage-specific and general transcriptional signatures that connect environmental context with the molecular basis of migratory behavior.
Uppsala University