Biology:Diapause

From HandWiki
Short description: Response delay in animal dormancy

In animal dormancy, diapause is the delay in development in response to regular and recurring periods of adverse environmental conditions.[1][2] It is a physiological state with very specific initiating and inhibiting conditions. The mechanism is a means of surviving predictable, unfavorable environmental conditions, such as temperature extremes, drought, or reduced food availability. Diapause is observed in all the life stages of arthropods, especially insects.

Activity levels of diapausing stages can vary considerably among species. Diapause may occur in a completely immobile stage, such as the pupae and eggs, or it may occur in very active stages that undergo extensive migrations, such as the adult monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus. In cases where the insect remains active, feeding is reduced and reproductive development is slowed or halted.

Embryonic diapause, a somewhat similar phenomenon, occurs in over 130 species of mammals, possibly even in humans,[3] and in the embryos of many of the oviparous species of fish in the order Cyprinodontiformes.[4]

Phases of insect diapause

Diapause in insects is a dynamic process consisting of several distinct phases. While diapause varies considerably from one taxon of insects to another, these phases can be characterized by particular sets of metabolic processes and responsiveness of the insect to certain environmental stimuli.[5] For example, Sepsis cynipsea flies primarily use temperature to determine when to enter diapause.[6] Diapause can occur during any stage of development in arthropods, but each species exhibits diapause in specific phases of development. Reduced oxygen consumption is typical as is reduced movement and feeding.[7] In Polistes exclamans, a social wasp, only the queen is said to be able to undergo diapause.[8]

Comparison of diapause periods

The sensitive stage is the period when stimulus must occur to trigger diapause in the organism. Examples of sensitive stage/diapause periods in various insects:[9]

Scientific name Common name Sensitive stage Diapause
Diatraea grandiosella Southwestern corn borer early larval late larval[10]
Sarcophaga crassipalpis Flesh fly early larval pupa
Sarcophaga argyrostoma Flesh fly mid to late larval pupa
Manduca sexta Tobacco hornworm late embryonic (egg) to late larval pupa
Leptinotarsa decemlineata Colorado potato beetle early adult late adult
Bombyx mori Silkworm late embryonic (egg) to early larval embryonic
Lymantria dispar Spongy moth late embryonic late embryonic
Danaus plexippus Monarch butterfly early adulthood adulthood
Acronicta rumicis Knott grass moth mid larval mid larval
Cydia pomonella Codling moth early to mid larval mid larval[11]
Gynaephora groenlandica Arctic woolly bear moth mid larval mid larval[12]
Cuterebra fontinella Mouse botfly mid larval pupa[13]

Induction

The induction phase occurs at a genetically predetermined stage of life, and occurs well in advance of the environmental stress.[5] This sensitive stage may occur within the lifetime of the diapausing individual, or in preceding generations, particularly in egg diapause.[14] During this phase, insects are responsive to external cues called token stimuli, which trigger the switch from direct development pathways to diapause pathways. Token stimuli can consist of changes in photoperiod, thermoperiod, or allelochemicals from food plants. These stimuli are not in themselves favourable or unfavourable to development, but they herald an impending change in environmental conditions.[2]

Preparation

The preparation phase usually follows the induction phase, though insects may go directly from induction to initiation without a preparation phase.[5] During this phase, insects accumulate and store molecules such as lipids, proteins, and carbohydrates. These molecules are used to maintain the insect throughout diapause and to provide fuel for development following diapause termination. Composition of the cuticle may be altered by changing hydrocarbon composition and by adding lipids to reduce water loss, making the organism resistant to desiccation.[15] Diapausing puparia of the flesh fly, Sarcophaga crassipalpis, increase the amount of cuticular hydrocarbons lining the puparium, effectively reducing the ability of water to cross the cuticle.[16]

Initiation

Photoperiod is the most important stimulus initiating diapause.[9] The initiation phase begins when morphological development ceases.[5] In some cases, this change may be very distinct and can involve moulting into a specific diapause stage, or be accompanied by color change. Enzymatic changes may take place in preparation for cold hardening. For example, only diapausing adults of the fire bug, Pyrrhocoris apterus, have the enzymatic complement that allows them to accumulate polyhydric alcohols, molecules that help to lower their freezing points and thus avoid freezing.[17] Insects may also undergo behavioural changes and begin to aggregate, migrate, or search for suitable overwintering sites.

Overwintering monarch butterflies in diapause clustering on oyamel trees. One tree is completely covered in butterflies. These butterflies were located on a preserve outside of Angangueo, Michoacán, Mexico

Maintenance

During the maintenance phase, insects experience lowered metabolism and developmental arrest is maintained.[5] Sensitivity to certain stimuli which act to prevent termination of diapause, such as photoperiod and temperature, is increased. At this stage, insects are unresponsive to changes in the environment that will eventually trigger the end of diapause, but they grow more sensitive to these stimuli as time progresses.

Termination

In insects that undergo obligate diapause, termination may occur spontaneously, without any external stimuli.[5] In facultative diapausers, token stimuli must occur to terminate diapause. These stimuli may include chilling, freezing, or contact with water, depending on the environmental conditions being avoided. These stimuli are important in preventing the insect from terminating diapause too soon, for instance in response to warm weather in late fall. In the Edith's checkerspot butterfly, individuals must receive enough sunlight in order to terminate the diapause stage and become a fully grown butterfly.[18] Termination may occur at the height of unfavourable conditions, such as in the middle of winter. Over time, depth of diapause slowly decreases until direct development can resume, if conditions are favourable.

Post-diapause quiescence

Diapause frequently ends prior to the end of unfavourable conditions and is followed by a state of quiescence from which the insect can arouse and begin direct development, should conditions change to become more favourable.[5] This allows the insect to continue to withstand harsh conditions while being ready to take advantage of good conditions as soon as possible.

Regulation

Diapause in insects is regulated at several levels. Environmental stimuli interact with genetic pre-programming to affect neuronal signalling, endocrine pathways, and, eventually, metabolic and enzymatic changes.

Environmental

Environmental regulators of diapause generally display a characteristic seasonal pattern. In temperate regions, photoperiod is the most reliable cues of seasonal change.[14] This informs entry into reproductive diapause for many northern insects, including the fruit fly Drosophila montana.[19] Depending on the season in which diapause occurs, either short or long days can act as token stimuli. Insects may also respond to changing day length as well as relative day length. Temperature may also act as a regulating factor, either by inducing diapause or, more commonly, by modifying the response of the insect to photoperiod.[14] Insects may respond to thermoperiod, the daily fluctuations of warm and cold that correspond with night and day, as well as to absolute or cumulative temperature. This has been observed in many moth species including the Indian mealmoth, where individuals diapause in different developmental stages due to environmental temperature.[20] Food availability and quality may also help regulate diapause. In the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria, a plant hormone called gibberellin stimulates reproductive development.[21] During the dry season, when their food plants are in senescence and lacking gibberellin, the locusts remain immature and their reproductive tracts do not develop.

Neuroendocrine

The neuroendocrine system of insects consists primarily of neurosecretory cells in the brain, the corpora cardiaca, corpora allata and the prothoracic glands.[2] There are several key hormones involved in the regulation of diapause: juvenile hormone (JH), diapause hormone (DH), and prothoracicotropic hormone (PTTH).[22]

Prothoracicotropic hormone stimulates the prothoracic glands to produce ecdysteroids that are required to promote development.[22] Larval and pupal diapauses are often regulated by an interruption of this connection, either by preventing release of prothoracicotropic hormone from the brain or by failure of the prothoracic glands to respond to prothoracicotropic hormone.

The corpora allata is responsible for the production of juvenile hormone (JH). In the bean bug, Riptortus pedestris, clusters of neurons on the protocerebrum called the pars lateralis maintain reproductive diapause by inhibiting JH production by the corpora allata.[23] Adult diapause is often associated with the absence of JH, while larval diapause is often associated with its presence.

In adults, absence of JH causes degeneration of flight muscles and atrophy or cessation of development of reproductive tissues, and halts mating behaviour. The presence of JH in larvae may prevent moulting to the next larval instar, though successive stationary moults may still occur.[24] In the corn borer, Diatraea gradiosella, JH is required for the accumulation by the fat body of a storage protein that is associated with diapause.[25]

Diapause hormone regulates embryonic diapause in the eggs of the silkworm moth, Bombyx mori.[26] DH is released from the subesophageal ganglion of the mother and triggers trehalase production by the ovaries. This generates high levels of glycogen in the eggs, which is converted into the polyhydric alcohols glycerol and sorbitol. Sorbitol directly inhibits the development of the embryos. Glycerol and sorbitol are reconverted into glycogen at the termination of diapause.

Tropical diapause

Diapause in the tropics is often initiated in response to biotic rather than abiotic components.[27] For example, food in the form of vertebrate carcasses may be more abundant following dry seasons, or oviposition sites in the form of fallen trees may be more available following rainy seasons. Also, diapause may serve to synchronize mating seasons or reduce competition, rather than to avoid unfavourable climatic conditions.

Diapause in the tropics poses several challenges to insects that are not faced in temperate zones.[27] Insects must reduce their metabolism without the aid of cold temperatures and may be faced with increased water loss due to high temperatures. While cold temperatures inhibit the growth of fungi and bacteria, diapausing tropical insects still have to deal with these pathogens. Also, predators and parasites may still be abundant during the diapause period.

Aggregations are common among diapausing tropical insects, especially in the orders Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, and Hemiptera.[27] Aggregations may be used as protection against predation, since aggregating species are frequently toxic and predators quickly learn to avoid them. They can also serve to reduce water loss, as seen in the fungus beetle, Stenotarsus rotundus, which forms aggregations of up to 70,000 individuals, which may be eight beetles deep. Relative humidity is increased within the aggregations and beetles experience less water loss, probably due to decreased surface area to volume ratios reducing evaporative water loss.[28]

See also

Embryonic diapause

  • Eburia quadrigeminata, the species with the longest reported diapause among insects (up to 40 years).
  • Polygonia c-album, whose larvae exhibit density-dependent polymorphism where one of two morphs is a diapausing phase.

References

  1. The Insects; Structure and Function, 4th Edition. R.F. Chapman, Cambridge University Press, 1998. ISBN:0-521-57048-4, p 403.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Tauber, M.J., Tauber, C.A., Masaki, S. (1986) Seasonal Adaptations of Insects. Oxford University Press[page needed]
  3. Fenelon, Jane C.; Renfree, Marilyn B. (2017-09-15). "The enigma of embryonic diapause". Development 144 (18): 3199–3210. doi:10.1242/dev.148213. ISSN 1477-9129. PMID 28928280. 
  4. Glen E. Collier; William J. Murphy (August 1997). "A molecular phylogeny for aplocheiloid fishes (Atherinomorpha, Cyprinodontiformes): the role of vicariance and the origins of annualism". Mol. Biol. Evol. 14 (8): 790–9. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a025819. PMID 9254916. "Annual aplocheiloid killifish embryos possess a rare ability among vertebrates to enter stages of developmental arrest (diapause) when subjected to adverse environmental conditions.". 
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 Kostal, V (2006). "Eco-physiological phases of insect diapause". Journal of Insect Physiology 52 (2): 113–127. doi:10.1016/j.jinsphys.2005.09.008. PMID 16332347. 
  6. Blanckenhorn, W. U. (1998). Altitudinal differentiation in the diapause response of two species of dung flies. Ecological Entomology 23, 1-8.
  7. The Insects; Structure and Function, 4th Edition. R.F. Chapman, Cambridge University Press, 1998. ISBN:0-521-57048-4, pp. 403–404
  8. Bohm (1972). "Effects of environment and juvenile hormone on ovaries of the wasp, Polistes metricus". Insect Physiology 18 (1): 1875–1883. doi:10.1016/0022-1910(72)90158-8. 
  9. 9.0 9.1 The Insects; Structure and Function, 4th Edition. R.F. Chapman, Cambridge University Press, 1998. ISBN:0-521-57048-4, p 404.
  10. Bulletin of Entomological Research (1976), 66:75–79 Cambridge University Press, Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1976, Diapause of the southwestern corn borer, Diatraea grandiosella Dyar (Lepidoptera, Pyralidae): effects of a juvenile hormone mimic: G. M. Chippendalea1 and C.-M. Yina1a1, Department of Entomology, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65201, U.S.A.
  11. Tadic, M. (1957). The Biology of the Codling Moth as the Basis for Its Control. Univerzitet U Beogradu. 
  12. Makarova, O. L.; Sviridov, A. V.; Klepikov, M. A. (2013-04-01). "Lepidoptera (Insecta) of polar deserts". Entomological Review. 93 (2): 225–239.doi:10.1134/S0013873813020115. ISSN 0013-8738.
  13. "Gonotrophic Development in the Rodent Bot Fly Cuterebra fontinella (Diptera: Oestridae)". Journal of Medical Entomology 28 (3): 474–476. 1991. doi:10.1093/jmedent/28.3.474. PMID 1875379. 
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 Huffaker, C.B. and Gutierrez, A.P., Eds. 1999. Ecological Entomology. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
  15. HEGDEKAR, B. M. (1979). "Epicuticular Wax Secretion in Diapause and Non-diapause Pupae of the Bertha Army worm". Annals of the Entomological Society of America 72 (1): 13–15. doi:10.1093/aesa/72.1.13. 
  16. Yoder, J.A.; Denlinger, D.L.; Dennis, M.W.; Kolattukudey, P.E. (1992). "Enhancement of diapausing flesh fly puparia with additional hydrocarbons and evidence for alkane biosynthesis by a decarbonylation mechanism". Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 22 (3): 237–243. doi:10.1016/0965-1748(92)90060-r. 
  17. Kostal, V.; Tollarova, M.; Sula, J. (2004). "Adjustments of the enzymatic complement for polyol biosynthesis and accumulation in diapausing cold-acclimated adults of Pyrrhocoris apterus". Journal of Insect Physiology 50 (4): 303–313. doi:10.1016/j.jinsphys.2004.01.006. PMID 15081823. 
  18. Weiss, Stuart B.; White, Raymond R.; Murphy, Dennis D.; Ehrlich, Paul R. (October 1987). "Growth and Dispersal of Larvae of Checkerspot Butterfly Euphydryas editha". Oikos 50 (2): 161–166. doi:10.2307/3565996. 
  19. Salminen, T. S.; Vesala, L.; Hoikkala, A. (2012-12-01). "Photoperiodic regulation of life-history traits before and after eclosion: Egg-to-adult development time, juvenile body mass and reproductive diapause in Drosophila montana". Journal of Insect Physiology 58 (12): 1541–1547. doi:10.1016/j.jinsphys.2012.09.007. ISSN 0022-1910. PMID 23026647. 
  20. Tzanakakis, M. E. (1959-11-01). "An ecological study of the Indian-meal mothPlodia interpunctella(Hübner) with emphasis on diapause" (in en). Hilgardia 29 (5): 205–246. doi:10.3733/hilg.v29n05p205. ISSN 0073-2230. 
  21. Ellis, P.E.; Carlisle, D.B.; Osborne, D.J. (1965). "Desert locusts: sexual maturation delayed by feeding on senescent vegetation". Science 149 (3683): 546–547. doi:10.1126/science.149.3683.546. PMID 17843190. Bibcode1965Sci...149..546E. 
  22. 22.0 22.1 Denlinger, D.L. (2002). "Regulation of diapause". Annual Review of Entomology 47: 93–122. doi:10.1146/annurev.ento.47.091201.145137. PMID 11729070. 
  23. Shimokawa, K.; Numata, H.; Shiga, S. (2008). "Neurons important for the photoperiodic control of diapause in the bean bug, Riptortus pedestris". Journal of Comparative Physiology 194 (8): 751–762. doi:10.1007/s00359-008-0346-y. PMID 18546002. 
  24. Yin, C.M.; Chippendale, G.M. (1979). "Diapause of the Southwestern Corn Borer, Diatraea grandiosella: further evidence showing juvenile hormone to be the regulator". Journal of Insect Physiology 25 (6): 513–523. doi:10.1016/s0022-1910(79)80010-4. 
  25. Brown, J.J.; Chippendale, G.M. (1978). "Juvenile hormone and a protein associated with the larval diapause of the Southwestern Corn Borer, Diatraea grandiosella". Insect Biochemistry 8 (5): 359–397. doi:10.1016/0020-1790(78)90022-7. 
  26. Horie, Y.; Kanda, T.; Mochida, Y. (2000). "Sorbitol as an arrester of embryonic development in diapausing eggs of the silkworm, Bombyx mori". Journal of Insect Physiology 46 (6): 1009–1016. doi:10.1016/s0022-1910(99)00212-7. PMID 10802114. 
  27. 27.0 27.1 27.2 Denlinger, D.L. (1986). "Dormancy in tropical insects". Annual Review of Entomology 31: 239–264. doi:10.1146/annurev.en.31.010186.001323. PMID 3510585. 
  28. Yoder, J.A.; Denlinger, D.L.; Wolda, H. (1992). "Aggregation promotes water conservation during diapause in the tropical fungus beetle, Stenotarsus rotundus". Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 63 (2): 203–205. doi:10.1111/j.1570-7458.1992.tb01574.x.