Large-scale genome-wide study reveals climate adaptive variability in a cosmopolitan pest

Yanting Chen,Zhaoxia Liu,Minsheng You,Geoff M Gurr,Jianyu Li,Shijun You,Liette Vasseur,Fushi Ke,Jacques Régnière,Jieling Huang,Shiguo Huang,Jian Lin,Shaoping Chen

doi:10.1038/s41467-021-27510-2

Abstract

Understanding the genetic basis of climatic adaptation is essential for predicting species’ responses to climate change. However, intraspecific variation of these responses arising from local adaptation remains ambiguous for most species. Here, we analyze genomic data from diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella) collected from 75 sites spanning six continents to reveal that climate-associated adaptive variation exhibits a roughly latitudinal pattern. By developing an eco-genetic index that combines genetic variation and physiological responses, we predict that most P. xylostella populations have high tolerance to projected future climates. Using genome editing, a key gene, PxCad, emerged from our analysis as functionally temperature responsive. Our results demonstrate that P. xylostella is largely capable of tolerating future climates in most of the world and will remain a global pest beyond 2050. This work improves our understanding of adaptive variation along environmental gradients, and advances pest forecasting by highlighting the genetic basis for local climate adaptation.

Highlights

Understanding the genetic basis of climatic adaptation is essential for predicting species’ responses to climate change
The fundamental resource for this study is a new dataset of genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) sequences of a worldwide sample of 532 diamondback moth (DBM) individuals collected from 114 locations in a diverse range of biogeographical regions[15]
To investigate the adaptive genetic variation associated with contemporary climates, we used a subset of samples from regions in which DBM is able to persist year-round with a positive ecoclimatic index (EI > 0)[16], where populations are subject to seasonally uninterrupted local selection by climatic factors

Summary

Introduction

Understanding the genetic basis of climatic adaptation is essential for predicting species’ responses to climate change. By developing an eco-genetic index that combines genetic variation and physiological responses, we predict that most P. xylostella populations have high tolerance to projected future climates. Our results demonstrate that P. xylostella is largely capable of tolerating future climates in most of the world and will remain a global pest beyond 2050. Studying the genetic mechanisms that underpin the adaptation of species to local climate is important to predict both population- and global-level responses to future environmental change and assist in management efforts[5]. We define a new eco-genetic index to examine population-level variation in response to climate change by combining the genetic offset (that quantifies the disruption of gene-environment relationships subject to future climates) with the ecoclimatic index (that describes phenology-based habitat suitability for species persistence). Our results imply that P. xylostella is largely capable of tolerating future climates in most regions of the world, and its pest status will be maintained beyond 2050

Methods

Results

Conclusion