Publication
Title
Sex determination mechanism in the hymenopteran parasitoid Aphidius rhopalosiphi De Stefani-Peres (Braconidae : Aphidiinae)
Author
Abstract
Three main sex-determining mechanisms have been proposed for Hymenoptera : genetic balance, single locus (sl-CSD) and multilocus (ml-CSD) complementary sex determination. In the last two cases, sex is not determined by the number of chromosome sets but by heterozygosity at one or several loci. Individuals are male when hemizygous (haploid) or homozygous (diploid) at all sex-determining loci. Usually, this results in haploids developing as males and diploids as females, although diploid males can also appear, particularly under conditions of inbreeding. Aphidius rhopalosiphi (Aphidiineae : Hymenoptera Braconidae) is a cereal aphid parasitoid that can potentially be used as a biological control agent. Phylogenetic studies suggested that, within parasitoid wasps, the sl-CSD is present in both the Ichneumonoidea superfamily and the Braconidae family. Here, we directly test the sl-CSD model in A. rhopalosiphi by inducing diploid male production by brother-sister mating in laboratory-selected isofemale lines. Ploidy levels were analyzed with two complementary methods : DNA flow cytometry and DNA microsatellite markers. We observed a significantly male-biased sex ratio after sib mating, but no diploid males were detected by DNA analysis. The difference between the observed and expected sex ratio suggests that a sl-CSD model with two alleles may be applicable, which would imply that most diploid males are unviable in A. rhopalosiphi. Consequences of diploid male production are discussed in terms of the evolutionary biology of Hymenoptera and aphid biological control.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Belgian journal of zoology / Koninklijke Belgische Vereniging voor Dierkunde; Société royale zoologique de Belgique. - Gent, 1990, currens
Source (book)
9th Benelux Congress of Zoology, NOV 08-09, 2002, Antwerp, BELGIUM
Publication
Gent : Koninklijke Belgische Vereniging voor Dierkunde , 2004
ISSN
0777-6276 [print]
2295-0451 [online]
Volume/pages
134 :2 (2004) , p. 15-21
ISI
000223855600003
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 03.01.2013
Last edited 09.12.2021
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