scholarly journals Laboratory evolution of polyandry in the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis

2007 ◽  
Vol 74 (5) ◽  
pp. 1147-1154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxwell N. Burton-Chellew ◽  
Leo W. Beukeboom ◽  
Stu A. West ◽  
David M. Shuker
Keyword(s):  
Parasitoid Wasp ◽  
Nasonia Vitripennis ◽  
Laboratory Evolution ◽  
Evolution Of Polyandry

The effect of exposure to conspecifics on restlessness in the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae)

2007 ◽  
Vol 139 (5) ◽  
pp. 678-684 ◽  
Author(s):  
B.H. King
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Quality ◽  
Parasitoid Wasp ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
The Other ◽  
Dispersal Ability ◽  
Nasonia Vitripennis ◽  
Adult Females ◽  
Selection For ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Abundance And Distribution

AbstractWhen habitat quality is variable, there should be strong selection for the ability to detect and respond to the variation. Adult females of the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis (Walker) are known to increase their restlessness (the proportion of time in locomotion) both during and after exposure to a poor quality host. Doing so provides a mechanism for leaving a poor host and potentially finding a better host. This study examined whether restlessness also changes in response to competition as indicated by the presence of adult conspecifics. Both restlessness and the probability of dispersing across an inhospitable environment were greater when a female was with another female than when she was alone. However, restlessness did not remain elevated after the other female was removed. In contrast with females, restlessness of males did not increase either during or after exposure to other males, and the probability of dispersing across an inhospitable environment was unaffected by the presence of another male. The difference between females and males may be related to differences in dispersal ability and in the abundance and distribution of hosts versus mates.

Extensive zygotic control of the anteroposterior axis in the wasp Nasonia vitripennis

Development ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 126 (4) ◽  
pp. 701-710 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.A. Pultz ◽  
J.N. Pitt ◽  
N.M. Alto
Keyword(s):  
Parasitoid Wasp ◽  
Axis Formation ◽  
Gene Products ◽  
Nasonia Vitripennis ◽  
Anteroposterior Patterning ◽  
Lethal Mutations ◽  
Gap Genes ◽  
Maternal Gene ◽  
Zygotic Control ◽  
Zygotic Genome

Insect axis formation is best understood in Drosophila melanogaster, where rapid anteroposterior patterning of zygotic determinants is directed by maternal gene products. The earliest zygotic control is by gap genes, which determine regions of several contiguous segments and are largely conserved in insects. We have asked genetically whether early zygotic patterning genes control similar anteroposterior domains in the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis as in Drosophila. Nasonia is advantageous for identifying and studying recessive zygotic lethal mutations because unfertilized eggs develop as males while fertilized eggs develop as females. Here we describe recessive zygotic mutations identifying three Nasonia genes: head only mutant embryos have posterior defects, resembling loss of both maternal and zygotic Drosophila caudal function; headless mutant embryos have anterior and posterior gap defects, resembling loss of both maternal and zygotic Drosophila hunchback function; squiggy mutant embryos develop only four full trunk segments, a phenotype more severe than those caused by lack of Drosophila maternal or zygotic terminal gene functions. These results indicate greater dependence on the zygotic genome to control early patterning in Nasonia than in the fly.

scholarly journals Oviposition but Not Sex Allocation Is Associated with Transcriptomic Changes in Females of the Parasitoid Wasp Nasonia vitripennis

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (12) ◽  
pp. 2885-2892 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Cook ◽  
Urmi Trivedi ◽  
Bart A. Pannebakker ◽  
Mark Blaxter ◽  
Michael G. Ritchie ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sex Allocation ◽  
Parasitoid Wasp ◽  
Nasonia Vitripennis ◽  
Transcriptomic Changes

Why do larger and older males win contests in the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis?

2014 ◽  
Vol 91 ◽  
pp. 151-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi-Jiun Jean Tsai ◽  
Edward M. Barrows ◽  
Martha R. Weiss
Keyword(s):  
Parasitoid Wasp ◽  
Nasonia Vitripennis ◽  
Older Males

scholarly journals Information use in space and time: sex allocation behaviour in the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis

2007 ◽  
Vol 73 (6) ◽  
pp. 971-977 ◽  
Author(s):  
David M. Shuker ◽  
Sarah E. Reece ◽  
Alison Lee ◽  
Aleta Graham ◽  
Alison B. Duncan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sex Allocation ◽  
Information Use ◽  
Parasitoid Wasp ◽  
Nasonia Vitripennis ◽  
Space And Time

scholarly journals Evidence of capacitation in the parasitoid wasp, Nasonia vitripennis and its potential role in sex allocation

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.R.C. Jones ◽  
E.B. Mallon
Keyword(s):  
Alternative Splicing ◽  
Sperm Motility ◽  
Sex Allocation ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Parasitoid Wasp ◽  
Published Data ◽  
Allocation Of Resources ◽  
Nasonia Vitripennis ◽  
Offspring Sex ◽  
Show Evidence

AbstractThe allocation of resources to the production of one sex or another has been observed in a large variety of animals. Its theoretical basis allows accurate predictions of offspring sex ratios in many species, but the mechanisms by which sex allocation is controlled are poorly understood. Using previously published data we investigated if alternative splicing, combined with differential expression, were involved with sex allocation in the parasitoid wasp, Nasonia vitripennis. We found that sex allocation is not controlled by alternative splicing but changes in gene expression, that were identified to be involved with oviposition, were shown to be similar to those involved in sperm motility, and capacitation. Genes involved in Cholesterol efflux, a key component of capacitation, along with calcium transport, trypsin and MAPKinase activity were regulated in ovipositing wasps. The results show evidence for regulation of sperm motility and of capacitation in an insect which, in the context of the physiology of the N. vitripennis spermatheca, could be important for sex allocation.

scholarly journals Genome-wide disruption of DNA methylation by 5-aza-2’-deoxycytidine in the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Cook ◽  
Darren J Parker ◽  
Frances Turner ◽  
Eran Tauber ◽  
Bart A Pannebakker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dna Methylation ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Sex Allocation ◽  
Phenotypic Expression ◽  
Parasitoid Wasp ◽  
Nasonia Vitripennis ◽  
Genomic Conflict ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
A Genome

AbstractDNA methylation of cytosine residues across the genome influences how genes and phenotypes are regulated in a wide range of organisms. As such, understanding the role of DNA methylation and other epigenetic mechanisms has become very much a part of mapping genotype to phenotype, a major question in evolutionary biology. Ideally, we would like to manipulate DNA methylation patterns on a genome-wide scale, to help us to elucidate the role that epigenetic modifications play in phenotypic expression. Recently, the demethylating agent 5-aza-2’-deoxycytidine (5-aza-dC; commonly used in the epigenetic treatment of certain cancers), has been deployed to explore the epigenetic regulation of a number of traits of interest to evolutionary ecologists, including facultative sex allocation in the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis. In a recent study, we showed that treatment with 5-aza-dC did not ablate the facultative sex allocation response in Nasonia, but shifted the patterns of sex allocation in a way predicted by genomic conflict theory. This was the first (albeit indirect) experimental evidence for genomic conflict over sex allocation facilitated by DNA methylation. However, that work lacked direct evidence of the effects of 5-aza-dC on DNA methylation, and indeed the effect of the chemical has since been questioned in Nasonia. Here, using whole-genome bisulphite sequencing of more than 4 million CpGs, across more than 11,000 genes, we demonstrate unequivocally that 5-aza-dC disrupts methylation on a large scale across the Nasonia vitripennis genome. We show that the disruption can lead to both hypo- and hyper-methylation, may vary across tissues and time of sampling, and that the effects of 5-aza-dC are context- and sequence specific. We conclude that 5-aza-dC does indeed have the potential to be repurposed as a tool for studying the role of DNA methylation in evolutionary ecology, whilst many details of its action remain to be discovered.Author SummaryShedding light on the mechanistic basis of phenotypes is a major aim in the field of evolutionary biology. If we understand how phenotypes are controlled at the molecular level, we can begin to understand how evolution has shaped that phenotype and conversely, how genetic architecture may constrain trait evolution. Epigenetic markers (such as DNA methylation) also influence phenotypic expression by regulating how and when genes are expressed. Recently, 5-aza-2’-deoxycytidine (5-aza-dC), a hypomethylating agent used in the treatment of certain cancers, has been used to explore the epigenetic regulation of traits of interest to evolutionary ecologists. Previously, we used 5-aza-dC to validate a role for DNA methylation in facultative sex allocation behaviour in the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis. However, the direct effects of the chemical were not examined at that point and its efficacy in insects was questioned. Here, we demonstrate that 5-aza-dC disrupts DNA methylation on a genome-wide scale in a context- and sequence-specific manner and results in both hypo- and hyper-methylation. Our work demonstrates that 5-aza-dC has the potential to be repurposed as a tool for studying the role of DNA methylation in phenotypic expression.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document