Graduate Student University of Rochester Rochester, New York
The pea aphid offers an exciting opportunity to investigate the molecular genetic basis of alternative morphologies. This species exhibits two different wing dimorphisms, in which dramatically different winged and wingless morphs exist within populations. In asexual females, environmental conditions control the production of winged versus wingless phenotypes; this is a classic example of phenotypic plasticity. In contrast, a single genetic locus controls morph determination in males. I’ll present two recent discoveries about the mechanistic control of these pea aphid wing dimorphisms. First, using recombination and association mapping, we found that an insertion on the X chromosome containing a duplicated follistatin gene controls the male wing dimorphism. Second, using gene expression profiling, we found that a different follistatin copy is important in the female wing plasticity. I’ll end by discussing this information within an evolutionary context.
