Alternative splicing in seasonal plasticity and the potential for adaptation to environmental change

Steward, Rachel A, de Jong, Maaike A, Oostra, Vicencio ORCID: 0000-0002-1273-1906 and Wheat, Christopher W (2022) Alternative splicing in seasonal plasticity and the potential for adaptation to environmental change. Nature Communications, 13 (1). 755-.

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28306-8

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Seasonal plasticity is accomplished via tightly regulated developmental cascades that translate environmental cues into trait changes. Little is known about how alternative splicing and other posttranscriptional molecular mechanisms contribute to plasticity or how these mechanisms impact how plasticity evolves. Here, we use transcriptomic and genomic data from the butterfly <jats:italic>Bicyclus anynana</jats:italic>, a model system for seasonal plasticity, to compare the extent of differential expression and splicing and test how these axes of transcriptional plasticity differ in their potential for evolutionary change. Between seasonal morphs, we find that differential splicing affects a smaller but functionally unique set of genes compared to differential expression. Further, we find strong support for the novel hypothesis that spliced genes are more susceptible than differentially expressed genes to erosion of genetic variation due to selection on seasonal plasticity. Our results suggest that splicing plasticity is especially likely to experience genetic constraints that could affect the potential of wild populations to respond to rapidly changing environments.</jats:p>

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Animals, Butterflies, Seasons, Adaptation, Physiological, Transcription, Genetic, Alternative Splicing, Life Cycle Stages, Genes, Insect, Models, Genetic, Female, Genetic Variation, Biological Evolution
Divisions:	Faculty of Health and Life Sciences Faculty of Health and Life Sciences > Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	17 Feb 2022 08:03
Last Modified:	18 Jan 2023 21:12
DOI:	10.1038/s41467-022-28306-8
Open Access URL:	https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-28306-8
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3149073