Genetics of Host Affiliation in Herbivorous Beetles (Chrysomelidae)

成千上万种昆虫以植物为食。 这些物种中的大多数，包括大多数少数物种， 农作物和木材的严重害虫，具有高度的寄主特异性， 尊重它们赖以为生的植物种类。 演变 任何特征，例如对特定食用植物的偏好， 要求在这个基因中存在遗传变异， 功能. 因此，了解为什么特定的宿主植物 昆虫草食动物协会已经进化，可以提供 分析昆虫种群内的遗传变异， 与成功使用特定 植物的种类。 Fuelima博士将与Ophraella物种合作，这是一组 每一种甲虫只与一种或两种以上的甲虫有联系， 向日葵科的另一个属。 这项研究是第一次尝试确定是否 历史进化事件可以从 系统发育研究完全可以从遗传 同时代物种的分析。 因此，它力求 综合两个截然不同的进化研究项目 生物学-进化历史和遗传分析的演绎 进化的过程。 更具体地说，它涉及 基因分析是否能解释为什么 昆虫物种已经适应了某些植物而不是其他植物。 这项工作对作物管理也有意义。 木材害虫。 本研究可以作为一种模式， 昆虫遗传变异的分析， 昆虫学家预测昆虫可能成为 害虫，即使一开始它们不是。

Hundreds of thousands of species of insects feed on plants. Most of these species, including most the small minority that are serious pests of crops and timber, are highly host-specific in respect of the kinds of plants on which they feed. The evolution of any feature, such as preference for a particular food plant, requires that there has existed genetic variation in that feature. Therefore, understanding why particular host plant insect herbivore associations have evolved can be provided by assaying the genetic variation within insect populations for those features associated with successful use of a particular species of plants. Dr. Futuyma will work with species of Ophraella, a group of beetles in which each species is associated only with one or another genus of plants in the sunflower family (Asteraceae). This research is among the first attempts to determine whether historical evolutionary events that can be deduced from phylogenetic studies can be predicted at all from genetic analyses of contemporaneous species. As such, it seeks to synthesize two very different research programs in evolutionary biology - deduction of evolutionary history and genetic analysis of evolutionary processes. More particularly, it addresses the question of whether or not genetic analysis can shed light on why insect species have adapted to some plants rather than others. This work also has implications for the management of crop and timber pests. The present research can serve as a model for assays of genetic variation in insects that may enable crop entomologists to predict the likelihood that insects may become pests, even if at first they are not.