Scientists discover genetic changes in locusts that may be behind plagues in Spain

A scientific study carried out by the University of Granada looked at the behavioural variations of these insects according to these changes in their genes

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Monday, 17 March 2025, 15:34

Research at the University of Granada (UGR) has revealed that a series of genetic changes in locusts associated with the behaviour of these insects may be behind the emergence of plagues, which are harmful to agriculture, livestock and ecosystems. Mohammed Bakkali, professor at the Department of Genetics of the Faculty of Sciences of the UGR, has led this work.

According to the study, the same locusts that cause plagues in their gregarious state are part of the ecosystem and do not cause problems in their so-called solitary state. The difference between the two states is not due to mutations in the locusts' genetic material, but to modifications in the expression of genes as an adaptive response to changes in the environment in which they live.

These variations are responsible for the differences in behaviour (activity, voracity and migratory capacity), morphology (size and colour), reproduction (reproductive capacities and development) and physiology (metabolism, stress and immune response) of these insects.

By comparing gene expression in the central nervous system between the normal and plague states of the two most important plague locust species (the migratory locust, Locusta migratoria; and the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria), researchers have found nearly a hundred genes that change their level of expression in the same way in both species. The scientists interpret these genes to include some that could be useful for understanding and fighting plagues in more than one locust species.

Among the changes affecting locusts between normal and plague states, "the one affecting behaviour is obvious and, since it depends on others in the central nervous system, and the latter in turn depend on changes in gene expression, it is of great interest to identify genes whose expression is different between the normal and plague states of locusts," explains Bakkali.

Some of the identified gene information does not change expression in either locust species and is therefore not related to the plague phenomenon. The rest is either the same or inconsistent between the two species.

Some of the genes that change consistently between the two species studied could be used to understand and/or control locust plagues in general. Some of the inconsistently changing genes could be associated with differences in living conditions and/or biology unrelated to the pests of the two locust species, and the rest of these genes could be associated with locust pests in a species-specific manner. The latter would provide material for understanding and/or combating this phenomenon in a target species-specific manner, the researchers explain.

The large number of genes that change expression inconsistently between the two species studied, compared to those that do so consistently, allows the researchers to suggest that locust plagues are highly specific and different between locust species. Thus, the researcher explains that "it is advisable to study each species separately and not to rely on and transfer findings between species without prior verification".

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