Lysine Methylation and Histone Modifications during Cold Stress of Insects: Freeze-Tolerant Eurosta solidaginis and Freeze-Avoiding Epiblema scudderiana

Overwintering survival by insects, whether of the freeze-tolerant or freeze-avoiding types, is typically associated with a strong suppression of metabolic rate (e.g., entry into diapause) that involves the differential expression of many genes with regulation at the transcriptional, translational or post-translational levels. Epigenetic modifications have been suggested to play a vital role in regulating cold responses of insects. However, knowledge of the roles of epigenetic mechanisms in modulating gene expression for winter survival of the larvae of two goldenrod gall formers, the freeze-tolerant dipteran