Comparative transcriptomics support evolutionary convergence of diapause responses across Insecta

Diapause is a common phenotype that is broadly phylogenetically dispersed across Insecta and appears to have multiple evolutionary origins. Nevertheless, there are clear commonalities in diapause regulation across insect taxa. In the present study, we report a meta-analysis of diapause whole transcriptomic data sets from 11 different insect species that addresses three questions: (i) how similar are whole-transcriptome diapause responses across species within and across different diapause life-cycle stages; (ii) do the most closely-related species demonstrate the most similar diapause responses within and across diapause life-cycle stages (the existence of phylogenetic signal); and (iii) is there a core set of regulatory genes that universally associate with insect diapause at the transcript level? The included species are mostly Dipterans (n = 9), plus one species each from Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera. The group includes multiple species that enter diapause as either larvae, pupae or a...