Conservation of biological processes associated with diapause
across insect species
GO terms found to be associated with diapause in bumble bees
(Bombus terrestris ) (Amsalem, E. et al., 2015), an oil-collecting
bee Tetrapedia diversipes (Santos, P. K. F. et al., 2018),
alfalfa leaf-cutting bees (Megachile rotundata ) (Yocum, G. D. et
al., 2018), and across 11 insect species spanning Diptera, Lepidoptera,
and Hymenoptera (Ragland, G. J. & Keep, E., 2017) were compiled from
previous studies. We compared these terms with those associated with
DEGs between summer and winter bees in our study. We found that one
category from fat bodies, dendrite morphogenesis (GO:0048813),
overlapped, and two categories, neurogenesis (GO:0022008) and
morphogenesis of an epithelium (GO:0002009), from flight muscle tissues
overlapped with previous studies.
Among genes related to dendrite morphogenesis, 31 were differentially
regulated between winter and summer bees in the fat bodies, while 39
were differentially regulated in the flight muscles (though note that
this was not a significantly enriched GO category in this tissue). In
total, 49 genes associated with dendrite morphogenesis were
differentially regulated across both tissues between winter and summer
bees, including homologs of genes encoding TGF-beta signaling pathway
components DAF-1, DAF-4, and DAF-8 (TGF-beta receptor type 1
[LOC550930 ], activin receptor type 2A [LOC412471 ],
and mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 3 [LOC412601 ]).
Among genes related to neurogenesis, 3 were differentially regulated
between winter and summer bees in the fat bodies, while 4 were
differentially regulated in the flight muscles. In total, 6 genes
associated with neurogenesis were differentially regulated across both
tissues between winter and summer bees, including epidermal growth
factor receptor-like [LOC100577393 ], histone-lysine
N-methyltransferase E(z) [LOC552235 ], sn1-specific
diacylglycerol lipase alpha [LOC413224 ], protein
gooseberry-neuro-like [LOC411374 ], BTB/POZ domain-containing
protein 6-B [LOC100578209 ], and putative glutathione-specific
gamma-glutamylcyclotransferase 2 [LOC408369 ].
Lastly, 6 genes related to morphogenesis of an epithelium were
differentially regulated between winter and summer bees in the fat
bodies, while 5 were differentially regulated in the flight muscles. In
total, 6 genes associated with morphogenesis of an epithelium were
differentially regulated across both tissues between winter and summer
bees, including epidermal growth factor receptor-like
[LOC100577393 ], cyclin-dependent kinase 14
[LOC552617 ], radixin homolog 1 [LOC412799 ],
mitochondrial electron transfer flavoprotein subunit alpha
[LOC551710 ], and dystroglycan [LOC408826 ].