Secrets to climate change adaptation uncovered in the European corn borer moth
(PHYSorg.com Biology)

A team of biologists led by Tufts University has found two genes that may permit some insect species to survive climate change by adjusting their biological annual clocks while others succumb. The ability to synchronize behavioral, morphological and other transitions with the seasons is integral to the life cycle of most insects. In the study published today in Current Biology, the researchers looked at the European corn borer moth (Ostrinia nubilalis) and pinpointed variation in two circadian clock genes-per and Pdfr-that enable different populations of the moth to adapt their transitions to longer or shorter winters.