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Whole transcriptome responses among females of the filariasis and arbovirus vector mosquito Culex pipiens implicate TGF-β signaling and chromatin modification as key drivers of diapause induction
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Whole transcriptome responses among females of the filariasis and arbovirus vector mosquito Culex pipiens implicate TGF-β signaling and chromatin modification as key drivers of diapause induction

Paul Hickner, Akio Mori, Erliang Zeng, John Tan and David Severson
Functional & integrative genomics, Vol.15(4), pp.439-447
07/2015
DOI: 10.1007/s10142-015-0432-5
PMCID: PMC4492872
PMID: 25634120
url
http://doi.org/10.1007/s10142-015-0432-5View
Open Access

Abstract

Culex pipiens mosquitoes are important disease vectors inhabiting temperate zones, worldwide. The seasonal reduction in temperature and photoperiod accompanying late summer and early fall prompts female mosquitoes to enter diapause, a stage of developmental arrest and physiological conditioning that enhances survival during the winter months. To investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying diapause induction, we used custom whole transcriptome microarrays to identify differences in gene expression following exposure to nondiapause (long days, 25 °C) and diapause-inducing (short days, 18 °C) environmental conditions. Using a two-way ANOVA, we identified 1130 genes that were differentially expressed. We used the expression of these genes across three time points to construct a gene co-expression network comprising five modules. Genes in modules 1, 2, and 3 were largely up-regulated, while genes in modules 4 and 5 were down-regulated when compared to nondiapause conditions. Pathway enrichment analysis of the network modules revealed some potential regulatory mechanisms driving diapause induction. Module 1 was enriched for genes in the TGF-ß and Wnt signaling pathways; module 2 was enriched for genes involved in insect hormone biosynthesis, specifically, ecdysone synthesis; module 3 was enriched for genes involved in chromatin modification; and module 5 was enriched for genes in the circadian rhythm pathway. Our results suggest that TGF-β signaling and chromatin modification are key drivers for the integration of environmental signals into the diapause induction phase in C. pipiens mosquitoes.
Life Sciences Biochemistry, general Microbial Genetics and Genomics Overwintering Gene regulation Gene network Seasonality House mosquito Bioinformatics Cell Biology Plant Genetics & Genomics Animal Genetics and Genomics

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