Elucidating Cold-Stress-Induced Metabolic and Transcriptional Reprogramming in Tuta absoluta Larvae Through Integrated Multi-Omics Analysis
TL;DR
Overall, the findings indicate that cold stress forces T. absoluta larvae to reallocate resources from growth and feeding toward survival, and provides useful insight into the physiological and molecular basis of low-temperature sensitivity in an important agricultural pest.
Abstract
Simple Summary Low temperatures can strongly affect insect development, survival and physiological performance, particularly in species adapted to warm environments. Here, we characterized the responses of Tuta absoluta larvae after continuous exposure to three thermal regimes—25, 15 and 5 °C—for 7 days using integrated physiological, metabolomic and transcriptomic analyses. Our study shows that cold exposure disrupts feeding, digestive enzyme activity, energy storage and redox balance in T. absoluta larvae. Larvae exposed to lower temperatures showed reduced survival and growth performance, together with depleted glycogen reserves and weakened antioxidant defenses. Meanwhile, protective compounds such as trehalose and proline accumulated, suggesting a shift from normal growth metabolism toward stress protection. Molecular analyses further revealed changes in pathways associated with carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism, energy production, oxidative stress, and development. Overall, the findings indicate that cold stress forces T. absoluta larvae to reallocate resources from growth and feeding toward survival. This work provides useful insight into the physiological and molecular basis of low-temperature sensitivity in an important agricultural pest.