Dynamics of genetic variability in Anastrepha fraterculus (Diptera: Tephritidae) during adaptation to laboratory rearing conditions

A PARREÑO; ALEJANDRAC SCANNAPIECO; MARÍA I REMIS; MARIANELA JURI; MARÍA T VERA; DIEGO F SEGURA; CLADERA, JORGE L

BMC GENETICS

BIOMED CENTRAL LTD

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2014

1471-2156

Abstract Background: Anastrepha fraterculus is one of the most important fruit fly plagues in the American continent and only chemical control is applied in the field to diminish its population densities. A better understanding of the genetic variability during the introduction and adaptation of wild A. fraterculus populations to laboratory conditions is required for the development of stable and vigorous experimental colonies and mass-reared strains in support of successful Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) efforts. Methods: The present study aims to analyze the dynamics of changes in genetic variability during the first six generations under artificial rearing conditions in two populations: a) a wild population recently introduced to laboratory culture, named TW and, b) a long-established control line, named CL. Results: Results showed a declining tendency of genetic variability in TW. In CL, the relatively high values of genetic variability appear to be maintained across generations and could denote an intrinsic capacity to avoid the loss of genetic diversity in time. Discussion: The impact of evolutionary forces on this species during the adaptation process as well as the best approach to choose strategies to introduce experimental and mass-reared A. fraterculus strains for SIT programs are discussed. Introduction The introduction of species into artificial conditions with the aim to establish laboratory lines is necessary and useful in numerous situations for experimental or mass rearing purposes. Laboratory conditions are different from the ones a species encounters in nature and often favor a small group of individuals with specific reproductive advantages [1]. For insect species, it has been observed that the adaptation to laboratory conditions frequently favors individuals with faster life cycles, females with high fecundity at the beginning of the reproductive stage, and males that do not necessarily accomplish all parts of the courting sequences /courtship [2-4]. At a molecular level, changes in the genetic variability have also been observed during the adaptation to laboratory conditions [5-11]. Specifically, the reduction of the population effective