Institute of Agricultural Sciences/Applied Entomology, ETH Zurich, Schmelzbergstrasse 9/LFO, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland.
Behav Genet. 2012 Jul;42(4):687-97. doi: 10.1007/s10519-012-9539-9. Epub 2012 Apr 22.
Lepidopteran insects are major pests of agricultural crops, and mated female moths exploit plant volatiles to locate suitable hosts for oviposition. We investigated the heritability of odor-guided host location behavior and fecundity in the cosmopolitan oriental fruit moth Grapholita (Cydia) molesta, an oligophagous herbivore that attacks fruit trees. We used a full-sib/half-sib approach to estimate the heritability and the genetic correlation between these two traits. Results document a considerable genetic basis for olfactory attraction of females (h ( 2 ) = 0.37 ± 0.17) and their fecundity (h ( 2 ) = 0.32 ± 0.13), as well as a genetic trade-off between female attraction and fecundity (r ( g ) = -0.85 ± 0.21). These estimations were empirically corroborated by comparing two strains maintained in the laboratory for different numbers of generations. The long-term reared strain lost its olfactory discrimination ability but achieved significantly higher fecundity compared with the short-term reared strain. Our results highlight that genetic studies are relevant for understanding the evolution of odor-guided behavior in herbivore insects and for judging the promise of pest management strategies involving behavioral manipulation with plant volatiles.
鳞翅目昆虫是农业作物的主要害虫，交配后的雌性蛾利用植物挥发物来定位合适的产卵宿主。我们研究了世界性的东方果实蛾 Grapholita (Cydia) molesta 的嗅觉引导的宿主定位行为和繁殖力的遗传性，这是一种专食性的植食性昆虫，会攻击果树。我们使用全同胞/半同胞法来估计这两个特征的遗传力和遗传相关性。结果表明，雌性的嗅觉吸引力（h（2）= 0.37 ± 0.17）和繁殖力（h（2）= 0.32 ± 0.13）具有相当大的遗传基础，并且雌性吸引力和繁殖力之间存在遗传权衡（r（g）= -0.85 ± 0.21）。通过比较在实验室中饲养不同代数的两个品系，对这些估计进行了经验验证。长期饲养的品系失去了嗅觉辨别能力，但与短期饲养的品系相比，其繁殖力显著提高。我们的研究结果强调了遗传研究对于理解植食性昆虫嗅觉引导行为的进化以及判断利用植物挥发物进行行为操纵的害虫管理策略的前景具有重要意义。
