Mitochondria dysfunction impairs Tribolium castaneum wing development during metamorphosis

The disproportionate growth of insect appendages such as facultative growth of wings and exaggeration of beetle horns are examples of phenotypic plasticity. Insect metamorphosis is the critical stage for development of pupal and adult structures and degeneration of the larval cells. How the disproportionate growth of external appendages is regulated during tissue remodeling remains unanswered. Tribolium castaneum is used as a model to study the function of mitochondria in metamorphosis. Mitochondrial dysfunction is achieved by the knockdown of key mitochondrial regulators. Here we show that mitochondrial function is not required for metamorphosis except that severe mitochondrial dysfunction blocks ecdysis. Surprisingly, various abnormal wing growth, including short and wingless phenotypes, are induced after knocking down mitochondrial regulators. Mitochondrial activity is regulated by IIS (insulin/insulin-like growth factor signaling)/FOXO (forkhead box, sub-group O) pathway through TFAM (transcription factor A, mitochondrial). RNA sequencing and differential gene expression analysis show that wing-patterning and insect hormone response genes are downregulated, while programmed cell death and immune response genes are upregulated in insect wing discs with mitochondrial dysfunction. These studies reveal that mitochondria play critical roles in regulating insect wing growth by targeting wing development during metamorphosis, thus showing a novel molecular mechanism underlying developmental plasticity.