Exploring the epigenetic control of gene expression and its relation to locust phase polyphenism.

Locusts are insects that have the power to change their appearance depending on different environmental conditions. This implies that with one DNA set, different outcomes can be generated. Two extreme outcomes are known and are described as the solitarious and a gregarious or swarming phase. It is the last phase that was described in the Bible as one of the plagues of Egypt (Exodus). Nowadays locust swarms still generate a billion dollar cost each year. Since many years researchers have studied this phenomenon in order to understand its molecular basis. Over the years, different molecules have been proposed to induce gregarious characteristics, but none of them acquired the status of being the primordial trigger that induces a phase change. In 2011 we have forwarded a new conceptual framework in which we state that epigenetic control of gene expression might be the last piece of the locust phase polyphenism puzzle. One of the key players in epigenetics is DNA methylation. The methyl groups act as epigenetic flags that repress (or activate) the gene of a target sequence. These flags are placed (or removed) on certain DNA targets depending on different stimuli. Following our model particular epigenetic flags are placed on DNA targets following tactile stimuli very early in life. In this way the gregarious phase state gets imprinted and lasts for several generations. In this project we will study different aspects of the epigenetic control of gene expression and its relation to locust swarming.

Keywords:Phase polyphenism, DNA methylation, Epigenetics, Phenotypic plasticity, Desert locust

Disciplines:Animal biology