Biology subjects

Behmer, S. T.

Publications and source records attributed to Behmer, S. T..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Rearing, dissection, and temporal transcriptomic profiling protocols to study density-dependent phenotypic plasticity in Schistocerca (Insecta: Orthoptera)

This protocol generates gregarious and solitarious density-dependent phenotypes in multiple Schistocerca species under controlled environmental conditions. It describes cage setup, feeding, animal handling, and sterile dissection workflows to isolate nervous, chemosensory, gut, fat body, and female reproductive tissues from nymphs and adults. It emphasizes rapid tissue stabilization and RNase-control practices for downstream single-tissue DNA and RNA analyses. Graphical abstract O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=136 SRC="FIGDIR/small/705994v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (43K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@59afdaorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@283b72org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@156fa13org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@13bf71b_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG

zoology↗

bioRxiv2026

A Perfect Soldier: the black soldier fly as a microbial-mediated physiological resilience model .

Understanding the complex interplay between a host, its diet, and its microbiome is crucial for comprehending an organisms health and adaptability. Diet impacts both the host and microbiome, which then influence each other. We used black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens) as a model to investigate this tripartite interaction due to its resilience and bioconversion capabilities. We analyzed life-history traits and metatranscriptomics in larvae fed three diets: carbohydrate-rich, protein-rich, and balanced. Our results showed that dietary macronutrients correlated with shifts in the microbial community and gene expression. The carbohydrate-rich diet, in particular, led to increased microbial diversity and carbohydrate metabolism transcripts. However, this diet also negatively affected larval weight and development, suggesting potential host control over the microbiome. Overall, black soldier fly performance was highest on the balanced diet. This study highlights the black soldier flys resilience and its value as a model for exploring host-diet-microbe interactions. Significance StatementUnderstanding the intricate interplay between an organism, its diet, and its microbiome is fundamental to health and adaptability. This complex tripartite relationship, where dietary macronutrients influence microbial communities and their gene expression, while the host maintains control, is crucial for addressing global challenges from sustainable food systems to personalized medicine. Using the black soldier fly as a resilience model, our metatranscriptomic study reveals how specific dietary shifts impact both host and microbial gene expression, providing mechanistic insights into nutrient utilization and adaptability with broad implications for diverse biological systems, including animals and humans.

systems biology↗

bioRxiv2022

Insights into the evolution of herbivory from a leaf-mining, drosophilid fly

Herbivorous insects and their host plants comprise most known species on Earth. Illuminating how herbivory repeatedly evolved in insects from non-herbivorous lineages is critical to understanding how this biodiversity is created and maintained. We characterized the trophic niche of Scaptomyza flava, a representative of a lineage nested within the Drosophila that transitioned to herbivory [~]15 million years ago. We used natural history studies to determine if S. flava is a true herbivore or a cryptic microbe-feeder. Specifically, we quantified oviposition substrate choice and larval viability across food-types, trophic-related morphological traits, and nitrogen isotope and sterol profiles across putatively herbivorous and non-herbivorous drosophilids. We confirmed that S. flava is an obligate herbivore of living plants. Paired with its genetic model host, Arabidopsis thaliana, S. flava is a novel and powerful system for exploring mechanisms underlying the evolution of herbivory, a complex trait that enabled the exceptional diversification of insects.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2019

Field application of the geometric framework reveals a multistep strategy of nutrient regulation in a leaf-miner

Animals have evolved a vast array of behavioral and physiological strategies that allow them to achieve a nutritionally balanced diet. Plants as food for herbivores are often considered suboptimal, but phytophagous insects can employ pre- and post-ingestive mechanisms and/or symbiotic associations to help overcome food nutritional imbalances. This is particularly crucial for permanent multivoltine leaf-miner insects such as the caterpillar Phyllonorycter blancardella which completes development within a restricted area of a single leaf and use deciduous leaves to fuel growth and reproduction even under senescing autumnal conditions. Using the geometric framework for nutrition under natural field conditions, we show that this insect has multiple strategies to deal with inadequate food supply from the plant. First, larvae manipulate the protein-sugar content of both normal, photosynthetically active, and senescing, photosynthetically inactive, leaf tissues. Control of nutritional homeostasis of mined tissues is however higher for late instars, which differ from younger larval instars in their feeding mode (fluid-vs. tissue-feeder). Second, slight differences in the protein-sugar environment remain between mined tissues on green and yellow leaves despite this manipulation of the leaf physiology. This insect uses post-ingestive mechanisms to achieve similar body protein, sugar and lipid composition. This study demonstrates, for the first time under natural conditions, the ability of an insect herbivore to practice a combination of pre- and post-ingestive compensatory mechanisms to attain similar growth and metabolic outcomes in fundamentally different nutritional environments. Additionally, a comparison of larval nutritional requirements of 117 species from various insect groups further reinforces the hypothesis of a close association between P. blancardella and endosymbiotic bacteria for nutritional purposes.

ecology↗