scholarly journals DNA Methylation and Sex Allocation in the Parasitoid Wasp Nasonia vitripennis

2015 ◽  
Vol 186 (4) ◽  
pp. 513-518 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Cook ◽  
Bart A. Pannebakker ◽  
Eran Tauber ◽  
David M. Shuker
Keyword(s):  
Dna Methylation ◽  
Sex Allocation ◽  
Parasitoid Wasp ◽  
Nasonia Vitripennis

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.

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

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 Genomics of sex allocation in the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis

BMC Genomics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bart A. Pannebakker ◽  
Nicola Cook ◽  
Joost van den Heuvel ◽  
Louis van de Zande ◽  
David M. Shuker
Keyword(s):  
Sex Allocation ◽  
Parasitoid Wasp ◽  
Nasonia Vitripennis

Asymmetric larval competition in the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis: a role in sex allocation?

2007 ◽  
Vol 61 (11) ◽  
pp. 1751-1758 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward M. Sykes ◽  
Tabitha M. Innocent ◽  
Ido Pen ◽  
David M. Shuker ◽  
Stuart A. West
Keyword(s):  
Sex Allocation ◽  
Parasitoid Wasp ◽  
Larval Competition ◽  
Nasonia Vitripennis

Male influence on sex allocation in the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis

2005 ◽  
Vol 59 (6) ◽  
pp. 829-835 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. M. Shuker ◽  
E. M. Sykes ◽  
L. E. Browning ◽  
L. W. Beukeboom ◽  
S. A. West
Keyword(s):  
Sex Allocation ◽  
Parasitoid Wasp ◽  
Nasonia Vitripennis

scholarly journals Genomics of sex allocation in the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bart A. Pannebakker ◽  
Nicola Cook ◽  
Joost van den Heuvel ◽  
Louis van de Zande ◽  
David M. Shuker
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Sex Allocation ◽  
Genetic Basis ◽  
Genome Wide Association Study ◽  
Parasitoid Wasp ◽  
Nasonia Vitripennis ◽  
Ratio Variation ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
A Genome

AbstractBackgroundWhilst adaptive facultative sex allocation has been widely studied at the phenotypic level across a broad range of organisms, we still know remarkably little about its genetic architecture. Here, we explore the genome-wide basis of sex ratio variation in the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis, perhaps the best studied organism in terms of sex allocation, and well known for its response to local mate competition (LMC).ResultsWe performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for single foundress sex ratios using iso-female lines derived from the recently developed outbred N. vitripennis laboratory strain HVRx. The iso-female lines capture a sample of the genetic variation in HVRx and we present them as the first iteration of the Nasonia vitripennis Genome Reference Panel (NVGRP 1.0). This panel provides an assessment of the standing genetic variation for sex ratio in the study population. Using the NVGRP, we discovered a cluster of 18 linked SNPs, encompassing 9 annotated loci associated with sex ratio variation. Furthermore, we found evidence that sex ratio has a shared genetic basis with clutch size on three different chromosomes.ConclusionsOur approach provides a thorough description of the quantitative genetic basis of sex ratio variation in Nasonia at the genome level and reveals a number of inter-related candidate loci underlying sex allocation regulation.

scholarly journals Differential gene expression is not required for facultative sex allocation: a transcriptome analysis of brain tissue in the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 171718 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Cook ◽  
Rebecca A. Boulton ◽  
Jade Green ◽  
Urmi Trivedi ◽  
Eran Tauber ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Brain Tissue ◽  
Differential Gene Expression ◽  
Sex Allocation ◽  
Parasitoid Wasp ◽  
Behavioural Plasticity ◽  
Nasonia Vitripennis ◽  
Offspring Sex Ratio ◽  
Differential Gene ◽  
Mechanistic Basis

Whole-transcriptome technologies have been widely used in behavioural genetics to identify genes associated with the performance of a behaviour and provide clues to its mechanistic basis. Here, we consider the genetic basis of sex allocation behaviour in the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis . Female Nasonia facultatively vary their offspring sex ratio in line with Hamilton's theory of local mate competition (LMC). A single female or ‘foundress’ laying eggs on a patch will lay just enough sons to fertilize her daughters. As the number of ‘foundresses’ laying eggs on a patch increases (and LMC declines), females produce increasingly male-biased sex ratios. Phenotypic studies have revealed the cues females use to estimate the level of LMC their sons will experience, but our understanding of the genetics underlying sex allocation is limited. Here, we exposed females to three foundress number conditions, i.e. three LMC conditions, and allowed them to oviposit. mRNA was extracted from only the heads of these females to target the brain tissue. The subsequent RNA-seq experiment confirmed that differential gene expression is not associated with the response to sex allocation cues and that we must instead turn to the underlying neuroscience to reveal the underpinnings of this impressive behavioural plasticity.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document