RNA editing fine-tunes transcriptional plasticity and enhances the adaptability of Myzus persicae to diverse host plants

Parthenogenetic organisms can adapt to diverse and rapidly changing environments despite limited standing genetic variation, but the molecular mechanisms enabling such adaptability remain unclear. Here, we investigate this question in the green peach aphid ( Myzus persicae , GPA), an asexual generalist herbivore capable of colonizing a wide range of host plants without underlying genetic change. By integrating RNA-seq and DNA-seq from genetically identical clones reared on different hosts, we identified 1,368 high-confidence RNA editing sites (RES), many of which exhibited strong host-dependent differences in editing levels. These RES encompassed all 12 possible nucleotide substitutions, with A-to-I, C-to-U, and U-to-C conversions being particularly prevalent. Editing at several sites shifted dynamically within 48 hours of host transfer and often coincided with changes in transcript abundance. Functional knockdown of the editing genes ADAR1 and ADAR2 reduced editing at specific sites, diminished fecundity, and abolished aphid survival on new hosts. Comparative analyses across aphid species reveal that although the biochemical signatures of A-to-I editing are deeply conserved, the genomic locations and functional roles of edited transcripts are species specific, reflecting lineage-specific adaptive strategies. Together, our findings demonstrate that RNA editing provides a rapid, reversible mechanism for environmental acclimation in GPA, enabling adaptive phenotypic plasticity even in the absence of genetic variation. This work establishes RNA editing as a key molecular basis for the remarkable ecological generalism of clonal organisms.