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Student 10-Minute Presentation

Systematics, Evolution, and Biodiversity

Student

Student Competition

Grad 10-min Competition: SysEB, Biodiversity 2

Effect of population density and locust phase on viruses associated with Central American locusts, Schistocerca piceifrons

Monday, November 11, 2024
10:30 AM – 10:42 AM MST
Location: Phoenix Convention Center, 222 C, PCC
Oral Presentation Student Competition
The Central American locust, Schistocerca piceifrons, is a transboundary migratory herbivore that exhibits density-dependent phase polyphenism. In the solitarious phase, they avoid one another, but in their gregarious phase they aggregate and undergo large migrations that can have devastating consequences. A significant amount of research has focused on the behavioral and physiological differences between phases, particularly in lab colonies, however the dynamics of the associated microbiomes remain largely unexplored. Beyond select studies of entomopoxoviruses, very little is known about viruses associated with locusts. This study uses a viral metagenomic approach to determine the diversity of circular viruses within locust field populations. As part of this study, we examine the differences in DNA viruses found in the whole bodies and guts of final instar Central American locusts in the solitarious and gregarious phases. Locusts were fed on the same host plants for two days prior to euthanasia. After death, locust guts and bodies were processed for viral DNA, circular viruses were amplified, and viral genomes were sequenced and de novo assembled. Based on analysis of published RNAseq data from a lab population of the Central American locust, we expect to find insect-infecting viruses in both solitarious and gregarious populations. However, because they behave differently in their respective environments, we predict that each phenotype will have different viral exposure. Further investigations of the functional role of these viruses could have implications for future locust management strategies.