Speakers - AFHWC2025

Abstract

The gut microbiota and epigenetic processes have been recognized as key factors in the survival of the brown planthopper (BPH) ­– a major pest of rice. In our study, we explored the interplay between gut microflora and epigenome and how it governs adaptive responses in insects. We studied the interaction between epigenetic mechanisms and the gut microbiome, while assessing its influence on BPH survivability. Our findings, for the first time, suggested that microbiome and epigenome work together to regulate the host response(s) to environmental signals, providing adaptive advantages to insects. We found that disruption of the gut microbiome led to significant changes in the host's epigenome, and similarly, alterations in the epigenome affected bacterial populations in the host. This suggests that epigenetics may play a role in maintaining microbial symbiosis in BPH. Additionally, we demonstrated that epigenetic mechanisms regulate and sustain microbial symbionts by modulating the insect’s immune system. Overall, our findings point to a crosstalk between the epigenome and microbiome that impacts gene regulation and microbe-mediated control of shared metabolic pathways in insects. These results offer new insights and directions for future research into the molecular mechanisms that govern these shared pathways, which are critical for symbiont-enabled herbivory. Furthermore, our study highlights the importance of investigating the interplay between gut microbiota and epigenetic mechanisms and understanding how these processes evolve and affect insect-plant interactions. Moreover, understanding how key traits and environmental drivers interact to shape the insect’s fitness in a changing environment is crucial for predicting their responses to climate change. Novel leads obtained herein have implications for the sustainable management of BPH and other pests.