ArticleScientific reports2021
Comparative analysis of phenotypic plasticity sheds light on the evolution and molecular underpinnings of locust phase polyphenism.
Article in Scientific reports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- A systematic review of locust phase polyphenism: from proximate mechanisms to ecology and management.PeerJ · 2026Pooled it
- Rearing, dissection, and temporal transcriptomic profiling protocols to study density-dependent phenotypic plasticity in the genus Schistocerca.STAR protocols · 2026Article
- The Integrative Imperatives of Locust Phase Polyphenism Research: A Bibliometric Analysis.Integrative organismal biology (Oxford, England) · 2026Review
- Comparative genomics uncovers evolutionary drivers of locust migratory adaptation.BMC genomics · 2025Article
- Comparative transcriptomics suggests a highly species-specific nature of the phenotypic plasticity associated with the outbreaks of the two main pest locusts.BMC genomics · 2024Article
- Article
- Comparative transcriptomics reveals that a novel form of phenotypic plasticity evolved via lineage-specific changes in gene expression.Ecology and evolution · 2023Article
- Phenotypic plasticity in the monoclonal marbled crayfish is associated with very low genetic diversity but pronounced epigenetic diversity.Current zoology · 2023Article
- One genome, multiple phenotypes: decoding the evolution and mechanisms of environmentally induced developmental plasticity in insects.Biochemical Society transactions · 2023Review
- Environmental Adaptation of Genetically Uniform Organisms with the Help of Epigenetic Mechanisms-An Insightful Perspective on Ecoepigenetics.Epigenomes · 2022Review
- The time course of behavioural phase change in the Central American locust Schistocerca piceifrons.The Journal of experimental biology · 2022Article
- Article
- Dynamic changes in species richness and community diversity of symbiotic bacteria in five reproductive morphs of cotton aphidFrontiers in microbiology · 2022Article
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3 authors.
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Abstract
Locusts exhibit one of nature's most spectacular examples of complex phenotypic plasticity, in which changes in density cause solitary and cryptic individuals to transform into gregarious and conspicuous locusts forming large migrating swarms. We investigated how these coordinated alternative phenotypes might have evolved by studying the Central American locust and three closely related non-swarming grasshoppers in a comparative framework. By experimentally isolating and crowding during nymphal development, we induced density-dependent phenotypic plasticity and quantified the resulting behavioural, morphological, and molecular reaction norms. All four species exhibited clear plasticity, but the individual reaction norms varied among species and showed different magnitudes. Transcriptomic responses were species-specific, but density-responsive genes were functionally similar across species. There were modules of co-expressed genes that were highly correlated with plastic reaction norms, revealing a potential molecular basis of density-dependent phenotypic plasticity. These findings collectively highlight the importance of studying multiple reaction norms from a comparative perspective.
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