Transgenerational plasticity in aphids reared in a poor-resource environment

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

• Transgenerational phenotypic plasticity (TGP) is important for coping with changing environmental conditions over multiple generations. • Resource limitation determines an adaptive expression of maternal effects and TGP in fitness-related traits in the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum . • The TGP we observed for starvation tolerance under our experimental conditions could be interpreted as a form of adaptive plasticity resulting from an evolutionary bet-hedging strategy. • Adaptive TGP effects may be partially masked in stressful environments, but are very important for fully understanding the population dynamics of this pest. The changing environmental conditions can affect insect biology over multiple generations and phenotypic plasticity is important for coping with these changes. Transgenerational plasticity occurs when the environment in which the parents developed influences the plastic response of the offspring phenotype. In the present study, the plastic effects of resource limitation on important life history traits such as body size, fecundity, survival, and resistance to starvation of the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum were investigated over two generations. This study focused on understanding how resource limitation can determine an adaptive expression of maternal effects and transgenerational plasticity in fitness-related traits. Aphids showed phenotypic plasticity for the life history traits investigated, as they performed better when grown in an optimal environment than in a resource-poor one. Also, aphids had a poorer performance if their mothers were raised in a resource-poor environment. The effects of transgenerational plasticity were observed only in response to resistance to starvation, through increased survival in the offspring of the mother reared in a resource-poor environment, suggesting an evolutionary bet-hedging strategy. The results of this study showed that the effects of adaptive transgenerational plasticity may be partially masked in stressful environments, where developmental problems instead predominate. More information on the transgenerational response to resource limitation across generations can contribute to a better understanding of aphid biology.