The ability of agricultural insect pests to rapidly evolve resistance to chemical and microbial insecticides undermines the sustainability of pest control. Agricultural insect pests such as the Colorado potato beetle (CPB), Leptinotarsa decemlineata, display a remarkable ability to rapidly adapt to insecticides and other stressors. Although insecticide resistance is considered inevitable, the processes underlying its development in insect pests remain poorly understood. One possible explanation is that exposure to insecticides may alter epigenetic modifications, which change patterns of gene expression without affecting the underlying DNA sequence. Surprisingly, no studies have tested how the intensity of insecticide exposure alters changes in histone modifications and how those changes affect phenotypic plasticity. We found key differences in histone acetylation among stressed and unstressed pests, and observed hormesis (low-dose stimulation) and intergenerational differences in performance after exposure to imidacloprid. Our results describing the role of histone modifications in stress response will be a crucial starting point for developing more sustainable and targeted pest control
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