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Premating isolation is determined by larval rearing substrates in cactophilic Drosophila mojavensis. X. Age-specific dynamics of adult epicuticular hydrocarbon expression in response to different host plants.

ABSTRACT: Analysis of sexual selection and sexual isolation in Drosophila mojavensis and its relatives has revealed a pervasive role of rearing substrates on adult courtship behavior when flies were reared on fermenting cactus in preadult stages. Here, we assessed expression of contact pheromones comprised of epicuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) from eclosion to 28 days of age in adults from two populations reared on fermenting tissues of two host cacti over the entire life cycle. Flies were never exposed to laboratory food and showed significant reductions in average CHC amounts consistent with CHCs of wild-caught flies. Overall, total hydrocarbon amounts increased from eclosion to 14-18 days, well past age at sexual maturity, and then declined in older flies. Most flies did not survive past 4 weeks. Baja California and mainland populations showed significantly different age-specific CHC profiles where Baja adults showed far less age-specific changes in CHC expression. Adults from populations reared on the host cactus typically used in nature expressed more CHCs than on the alternate host. MANCOVA with age as the covariate for the first six CHC principal components showed extensive differences in CHC composition due to age, population, cactus, sex, and age × population, age × sex, and age × cactus interactions. Thus, understanding variation in CHC composition as adult D. mojavensis age requires information about population and host plant differences, with potential influences on patterns of mate choice, sexual selection, and sexual isolation, and ultimately how these pheromones are expressed in natural populations. Studies of drosophilid aging in the wild are badly needed.

SUBMITTER: Etges WJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4201419 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Premating isolation is determined by larval rearing substrates in cactophilic Drosophila mojavensis. X. Age-specific dynamics of adult epicuticular hydrocarbon expression in response to different host plants.

Etges William J WJ de Oliveira Cassia C CC

Ecology and evolution 20140423 11

Analysis of sexual selection and sexual isolation in Drosophila mojavensis and its relatives has revealed a pervasive role of rearing substrates on adult courtship behavior when flies were reared on fermenting cactus in preadult stages. Here, we assessed expression of contact pheromones comprised of epicuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) from eclosion to 28 days of age in adults from two populations reared on fermenting tissues of two host cacti over the entire life cycle. Flies were never exposed to ...[more]

PMID: 25360246

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Project description:BackgroundSand flies vector several human pathogens, including Leishmania species, which cause leishmaniases. A leishmaniasis vaccine does not yet exist, so the most common prevention strategies involve personal protection and insecticide spraying. However, insecticides can impact non-target organisms and are becoming less effective because of the evolution of resistance. An alternative control strategy is the attract-and-kill approach, where the vector is lured to a lethal trap, ideally located in oviposition sites that will attract gravid females. Oviposition traps containing attractive microbes have proven successful for the control of some mosquito populations but have not been developed for sand flies. Gravid female sand flies lay their eggs in decomposing organic matter on which the larvae feed and develop. Studies have demonstrated that gravid females are particularly attracted to larval conditioned (containing eggs and larvae) and aged rearing substrates. An isolate-based study has provided some evidence that bacteria play a role in the attraction of sand flies to conditioned substrates. However, the overall bacterial community structure of conditioned and aged substrates and how they change over time has not been investigated.MethodsThe goal of this study was to characterize the bacterial communities of rearing and oviposition substrates that have been shown to vary in attractiveness to gravid sand flies in previous behavioral studies. Using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing we determined the bacterial composition in fresh, aged, and larval-conditioned substrates at four time points representing the main life-cycle stages of developing sand flies. We compared the diversity, presence, and abundance of taxa across substrate types and time points in order to identify how aging and larval-conditioning impact bacterial community structure.ResultsWe found that the bacterial communities significantly change within and between substrates over time. We also identified bacteria that might be responsible for attraction to conditioned and aged substrates, which could be potential candidates for the development of attract-and-kill strategies for sand flies.ConclusionThis study demonstrated that both aging and larval conditioning induce shifts in the bacterial communities of sand fly oviposition and rearing substrates, which may explain the previously observed preference of gravid female sand flies to substrates containing second/third-instar larvae (conditioned) and substrates aged the same amount of time without larvae (aged).

Project description:Black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) larvae can convert biowaste and by-products into body mass high in protein (~40% dry matter, DM) and lipid (~30% DM). However, the type of rearing substrate also affects the larval body composition and thus its nutritional value. Hitherto, it remains unclear how and to what extent the larval body composition can be altered by the substrate. This study was therefore performed to examine the possibilities of modifying larval body composition using different rearing substrates. To investigate this, 5-days old larvae were reared for seven days on different locally available waste and by-products: brewer's spent grain, mitigation mussels (Mytilus edulis), rapeseed cake, and shrimp waste meal (Pandalus borealis). Larval composition and performance were compared to larvae reared on a commercial chicken feed as well as a mixed feed (mixture of chicken feed and by-products, with a similar macronutrient composition to chicken feed). Larval body weight was recorded daily to determine growth over time whereas larvae and substrates were sampled at the start and end of the trial and analysed for their nutritional composition. The type of rearing substrate affected both larval body composition and growth performance. There was a clear relation between the nutritional composition of the substrate and larvae for certain fatty acids. Larvae reared on marine-based waste substrates contained a higher share of omega-3 fatty acids than larvae reared on the other substrates, indicating an accumulation of omega-3 fatty acids from the substrate. There was a strong positive linear correlation between the ash content in the substrate and larvae whereas larval lipid, protein, amino acid, and chitin content seemed more affected by larval development. Overall, this study showed that the rearing substrate affects larval composition and development, and that larval composition of certain nutrients can be tailored depending on further food and feed applications.

Project description:In Drosophila, adaptation to xeric environments presents many challenges, greatest among them the maintenance of water balance. Drosophila mojavensis, a cactophilic species from the deserts of North America, is one of the most desiccation-resistant in the genus, surviving low humidity primarily by reducing its metabolic rate. Genetic control of reduced metabolic rate, however, has yet to be elucidated. We utilized the recently sequenced genome of D. mojavensis to create an oligonucleotide microarray in order to pursue the identities of the genes involved in metabolic regulation during desiccation. We observed large differences in gene expression between male and female D. mojavensis as well as both quantitative and qualitative sex differences in their ability to survive xeric conditions. As expected, genes associated with metabolic regulation and carbohydrate metabolism were differentially regulated between stress treatments. Most importantly, we identified four points in central metabolism (Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase, transaldolase, alcohol dehydrogenase and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase) that indicate the potential mechanisms controlling metabolic rate reduction associated with desiccation resistance. Furthermore, a large number of genes associated with vision pathways also were differentially expressed between stress treatments, especially in females, that may underlie the initial detection of stressful environments and trigger subsequent metabolic changes. Dataset from Transcriptional regulation of metabolism associated with the increased desiccation resistance of the cactophilic Drosophila mojavensis Matzkin,LM and Markow, MA, Genetics. The stock used in this study (15081-1352.22) was the same one utilized for the recently published D. mojavensis genome sequence. Flies were reared using standard Tucson Drosophila Stock Center banana/Opuntia media. The experimental design consisted of two mating status treatments (virgin and mated) and two stress treatments (desiccation and food) for both sexes. There were two replicates per mating status/stress/sex treatment (16 total hybridizations)

Dataset Information

Premating isolation is determined by larval rearing substrates in cactophilic Drosophila mojavensis. X. Age-specific dynamics of adult epicuticular hydrocarbon expression in response to different host plants.

Publications

Premating isolation is determined by larval rearing substrates in cactophilic Drosophila mojavensis. X. Age-specific dynamics of adult epicuticular hydrocarbon expression in response to different host plants.

Similar Datasets

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