Today's Messages

Please join the Biology Department and the Great Lakes Center for the seminar “The Evolution and Genetics of Aphid Wing Dimorphisms,” presented by Dr. Jennifer Brisson on Monday, October 6, at 3:00 p.m. in SAMC 151. Attendees are welcome to arrive at 2:45 p.m. to enjoy coffee and cookies leading up to the seminar.

Research Seminar Abstract: Phenotypic plasticity—the capacity of a single genotype to produce multiple phenotypes in response to environmental conditions—is a widespread strategy that helps organisms cope with change. In pea aphids, a classic example of plasticity is the production of either winged or wingless asexual females, depending on whether the environment is stressful or favorable. Pea aphid males also occur in winged and wingless forms, but in contrast to females, this dimorphism is genetically determined rather than environmentally induced. In my talk, I will present three lines of research. First, I will show that different pea aphid subspecies vary in the degree of female wing plasticity, and that these differences correlate with distinct patterns of gene expression. Second, I will examine variation in male wing state within and across species, demonstrating that male dimorphism represents a transient evolutionary state, and that in pea aphids it arose from gene duplication and insertion on the X chromosome. And finally, I will discuss how the male genetic wing dimorphism appears to have evolved from the female, environmentally plastic dimorphism through gene duplication and functional divergence. Overall, our work provides important insights into the mechanistic basis of how trait variation shifts from being caused by “nurture” to “nature.”