While trade-offs between flight capability and reproduction is a common phenomenon in wing dimorphic insects, the molecular basis is largely unknown. In this study, we examined the transcriptomic differences between winged and wingless morphs of cotton aphids, Aphis gossypii, using a tag-based digital gene expression (DGE) approach. Ultra high-throughput Illumina sequencing generated 5.30 and 5.39 million raw tags, respectively, from winged and wingless A. gossypii DGE libraries. We identified 1,663 differentially expressed transcripts, among which 58 were highly expressed in the winged A. gossypii, whereas 1,605 expressed significantly higher in the wingless morphs. Bioinformatics tools, including Gene Ontology, Cluster of Orthologous Groups, euKaryotic Orthologous Groups and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways, were used to functionally annotate these transcripts. In addition, 20 differentially expressed transcripts detected by DGE were validated by the quantitative real-time PCR. Comparative transcriptomic analysis of sedentary (wingless) and migratory (winged) A. gossyii not only advances our understanding of the trade-offs in wing dimorphic insects, but also provides a candidate molecular target for the genetic control of this agricultural insect pest.

Under a sociogenomic context, the molecular mechanisms underlying gene-behavior associations are of particular interest. The Drosophila foraging (for) gene has been demonstrated to have a causal role in insect behavioral plasticity. Previous studies of for have revealed many facets of for function, including roles in foraging, energy metabolism, learning and memory, circadian rhythm, and stress resistance. for orthologs have been identified in a variety of insect taxa. However, expression patterns are not consistent across all insects, with for orthologs serving as both positive and negative regulators of foraging behavior. In this study, we cloned two for orthologs, Rffor-α and Rffor-β, from the Eastern subterranean termite, Reticulitermes flavipes. Spatial distribution study showed that the termite brain possesses significantly higher expression levels of Rffor-α and Rffor-β than other types of tissues, which suggests that for may act on the brain to influence an individual's ability to respond to its environment. The temporal expression profile of Rffor across different developmental stages suggests that Rffor functions as a negative regulator of foraging behavior. However, results from environmental impacts, that is, temperature and photoperiod, do not fit under a model of negative correlation between gene expression and locomotion. Further testing is warranted to better understand the interaction between Rffor expression and the environment. K E Y W O R D S for gene, foraging behavior, PKG, Reticulitermes flavipes, termite

We report here the synthesis and biological testing of 3’-phenyl alkynyl abscisic ABA analogs, a new class of potent ABA antagonists. These ABA analogs incorporate a rigid framework of eight...

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