Profiling the repertoire of phenotypes influenced by environmental cues that occur during asexual reproduction

Abstract

The aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum population is composed of different morphs such as winged and wingless parthenogens, males and sexual females. The combined effect of reduced photoperiodicity and cold in fall triggers the apparition of sexual morphs. In contrast they reproduce asexually in Spring and Summer. In our current study, we provide evidence that clonal individuals display phenotypic variability within asexual morph categories. We describe that clones sharing the same morphological features which arose from the same founder mother constitute a repertoire of variants with distinct behavioural and physiological traits. Our results suggest that the prevailing environmental conditions influence the recruitment of adaptive phenotypes from a cohort of clonal individuals exhibiting considerable molecular diversity. However, we observed that the variability might be reduced or enhanced by external factors but is never abolished in accordance with a model of stochastically produced phenotypes. This overall mechanism allows the renewal of colonies from a few adapted individuals that survive drastic episodic changes in a fluctuating environment.