Stage-specific metabolic allocation: nutrient investment strategies during Lysiphlebia japonica Ashmead development

Abstract

Introduction: Parasitic wasps are key biological control agents that rely on precise nutrient allocation to regulate host exploitation and optimize their own development. Nutrients, particularly lipids and energy-related metabolites, play a critical role in shaping stage-specific growth and survival strategies in parasitic wasps.

Methods: To analyze the allocation patterns of metabolite resources during development of parasitoid wasps, the multi-omics analysis was employed to systematically investigate nutrient dynamics across three growth periods in Lysiphlebia japonica Ashmead, a major parasitoid of cotton aphid (Aphis gossypii Glover).

Results: Here, a total of 753 metabolites were detected by untargeted metabolomics, with numerous nutritionally critical compounds including amino acids, fatty acids and carbohydrates showed stage-specific variations. A total of 31 fatty acids (11 SFAs, 9 MUFAs, 11 PUFAs) were identified by targeted fatty acid detection, exhibiting a notable variation across development notably, PUFAs remained consistently dominant throughout all stages, suggesting their essential role in parasitoid growth. Correlation analysis further indicated that α-ketoglutaric acid and glutamic acid were functionally associated with fatty acids, serving as potential developmental biomarkers.

Discussion: This study presented the first comprehensive metabolomic atlas of L. japonica development, uncovering nutrient allocation strategies that synchronize with its life cycle. By identifying key metabolites and fatty acids involved in its growth, our work provided a theoretical foundation for enhanced artificial rearing of parasitic wasps. Overall, these findings offered novel insights for translating omics data into practical applications, with significant theoretical and practical implications for developing improved biological control strategies.

Keywords: fatty acid; growth periods; metabolites; multi-omics; parasitic wasps.

Figure 1

Metabolite profiling of wasp Lysiphlebia japonica and QC. (A) Process for GC-TOF-MS analysis of metabolites extraction from L. japonica during growth periods. (B) TIC stack of all QC samples. (C) Correlation heatmap of QC samples in L. japonica. (D) Score scatter plot for PCA model Sample with QC.

Figure 2

Metabolites accumulation during growth periods. (A) PCA score plots of L. japonica metabolites during growth periods. Green, blue and red spots represent the larval stage, pupal stage and adult stage, respectively. Percentages indicate the degree to which component explains the data set. (B) OPLS-DA score plots of L. japonica metabolites during growth periods. (C) Hierarchically heatmap of total 753 different metabolites during the three stages. Each column indicates one sample and row indicates metabolite. Red represents metabolites with high relative abundance which blue represents low relative abundance.

Figure 3

The profiles of differentially expressed metabolites when compared pair-to-pair. (A) Volcano plot showed the metabolites differentially expressed between Pupa and Larva, Adult and Larva, Pupa and Adult. Significantly up-regulated differentially expressed metabolites are shown in red, significantly down-regulated metabolites are shown in blue, and non-differentially expressed metabolites are shown in gray. | Log₂FoldChange | > 1, p < 0.05 and VIP value > 1. (B) Histogram of top 5 up-accumulated and top 5 down-accumulated metabolites between Pupa and Larva, Adult and Larva, Pupa and Adult. Each column represents a metabolite, and the numbers are multiples of the difference, with red indicating up-regulation and blue indicating down-regulation. (C) Heatmap of fatty acids and amino acids during three stages.

Figure 4

Fatty acids accumulation during growth periods. (A) Score plot of the PCA models applied to three growth stages. (B) Score plot of the OPLS-DA models applied to three growth stages. (C) Changes of total contents (μg/mg) of SFAs, MUFAs and PUFAs in different growth stages of L. japonica.

Figure 5

Changes of components and contents (μg/mg) of FAs in different growth stages of L. japonica. (A) 11 SFAs, (B) 9 MUFAs, and (C) 11 PUFAs. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ns: no significant.