Ecological and genetic impacts of climate change during winter: Inferences from Ae. albopictus diapause

Wednesday, November 13, 2024

10:15 AM – 10:35 AM MST

Location: Phoenix Convention Center, 224 A, PCC

Presenting Author(s)

PA

Peter Armbruster

Georgetown University
Washington, District of Columbia

Co-Author(s)

Mara Heilig

Georgetown University
Washington, District of Columbia
Samantha Sturiale (she/her/hers)

PhD Candidate
Georgetown University
Washington, District of Columbia
AC

Adalgisa Caccone

Yale University
New Haven, Connecticut
LC

Luciano Cosme

Yale University
New Haven, Connecticut
AM

Alexandra Mushegian

Georgetown University, Virginia
SM

Sarah Marzec

Georgetown University
Washington, District of Columbia
JS

Jiangnan Shen

Yale University
New Haven, Connecticut
HZ

Hongyu Zhao

Yale University
New Haven, Connecticut

Climate change is expected to dramatically alter autumnal and winter conditions in many
temperate regions. However, limited data is available to accurately predict how these changes
will impact the ecology and genetics of overwintering insects. We performed simulated
overwintering experiments to explore the fitness consequences of altered autumnal and winter
climate conditions on fitness traits of the invasive and medically important mosquito, Aedes
albopictus. Additionally, we describe a newly developed high-density genotyping array (SNP
chip) for Ae. albopictus. The SNP chip was used to perform a genome wide association study
(GWAS) to explore the molecular regulation of diapause in Ae. albopictus. Taken together, these studies provide insight into the anticipated ecological and genetic responses to altered climatic conditions caused by contemporary climate change.