>I read something recently that was a good primer on this.

Nice paper. Thanks for posting. Interesting to see that they assume phenotypic plasticity in response to environmental cues is a given. The only question is what is/are the underlying mechanisms driving its expression:

'Ultimately, we need to understand how phenotypic plasticity works at a mechanistic level; how do environmental signals alter gene expression, and how are changes in gene expression translated into novel morphology, physiology and behaviour? Understanding how plasticity works is of major interest in evolutionary-developmental biology and may have implications for understanding how insects respond to global change.'

'Phenotypic plasticity allows individuals to alter their behaviour, physiology or morphology in response to an environmental cue. The suggestion that plasticity has a significant role in evolution was first made by West-Eberhard, and plasticity has since been hailed as a possible rapid-response mechanism allowing animals to adapt to changing or fluctuating environments. Phenotypic plasticity is common among insects, is encoded in the genome, is ecologically relevant and may influence species’ responses to ecological change facilitating adaptation.'

It reminds me of the BeeWeaver paper recently discussed wherein:

'In an especially striking example, our experiments show that genes involved with immune function were expressed at higher levels in samples with higher DWV loads - a result at odds with the meta-analysis of Doublet, et al., where immune genes, metabolic genes and regulatory genes were all suppressed by pathogen infection. Most notably, we find immune genes and defense response genes were highly over-represented among genes UP in R bees after virus injection, and were also UP in S bees with mites. Enhanced expression of immune defense genes elicited by higher DWV load is one explanation for our results: S bees with mites harbored higher levels of natural DWV infection than R bees with mites or R bees without mites. Equally important, R bees expressed immune defense genes at higher levels but developed lower DWV loads after DWV injection. These results offer intriguing correlations with the differential response of R and S bees to DWV injection, as well as their response to natural DWV infection in conjunction with Varroa infestation. Elevated expression of select immune genes may represent an effective anti-viral response to DWV infection, albeit one modulated by Varroa or of reduced impact when mites are present.'

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