I'm very excited (although very late) to share our IDEX-FAPESP success! Fernando Cônsoli, is a Brazilian researcher, working on aphids and other agronomical pests. This is the first time he will indulge into epigenetics and hopefully, I'm not going to let him down! Below the abstract for this short project (roughly 1 year!).
Symbiosis is a widespread phenomenon in nature and represents a major force in adaptation and evolution. Epigenetic switches enable different phenotypic states to be present in a genetically identical population, potentially facilitating rapid species adaptation. The impact of symbiosis establishment and maintenance on host epigenetic mechanisms remains elusive. We hypothesize that biotic stresses generated by host interaction with bacterial symbionts and parasitoids, may modulate host epigenetic mechanisms and in consequence, host gene expression. Aphids are excellent models to study epigenetics as they reproduce clonally, yet present high phenotypic diversity. In order to understand the impact of symbiosis on host epigenetic landscapes, we will study Myzus persicae, the peach aphid, and two of its common symbionts, the parasitoid wasp Diaretiella rapae, along with the bacterium Spiroplasma. We will study epigenomics (mainly DNA methylation) and transcriptomics on clonal lines under biotic stress and their control lines. We will unravel key epialleles involved in host-symbiont interaction. Finally, functional analysis of such epialleles will allow us to pinpoint genes crucial for host-symbiont interaction and potential candidates for peach aphid control.