Evolution of Heliothis Moth Sexual Communication Systems

大多数夜间飞行的飞蛾物种通过产生并对两种或两种以上气味化学物质(称为信息素)的非常精确的混合物做出反应来寻找配偶。有研究表明，具有非典型混合信息素的雌性对雄性的吸引力低于具有常见混合信息素的雌性。同样，发现对非典型混合物有反应的稀有雄性在寻找配偶方面处于劣势。进化的力量似乎对信息素通讯系统的任何变化都具有选择性。如果进化力量确实选择了反对变化，那么我们就面临一个问题：进化是如何导致目前存在的数千种拥有独特信息素的飞蛾的。这项拟议的研究通过确定控制信息素产生/反应的遗传基础来解决这个问题，并使用遗传杂交来产生非典型的雌性和雄性，以确定控制这些特征的基因的所有变化是否都是针对选择的。生物体的许多现有特征，如飞蛾信息素，需要许多基因的联合作用才能正常发挥作用，从表面上看，进化力量似乎不利于它们的发育。有必要从基因上剖析这些特征中的一些，以实验地检验进化如何作用于这些特征的单个组成部分。MOST系统将作为此类分析的模型。被研究的飞蛾是农作物害虫，因此从这些研究中获得的知识将有助于设计出更好的交配干扰工具来控制这些害虫。

Most night-flying moth species locate mates through production of, and response to, a very exact blend of two or more odorous chemicals called pheromones. Females with atypical blends of the pheromones have been shown to be less attractive to males than females with the species common blend. Similarly, rare males that respond to atypical blends have been found to be at a disadvantage in finding mates. Evolutionary forces appear to be selecting against any change in the pheromone communication system. If evolutionary forces are indeed selecting against change then we are left with the question of how evolution could have resulted in the current existence of thousands of species of moths that have unique pheromones. The proposed research addresses this question by determining the genetic basis for control of pheromone production/response and uses genetic crosses to produce atypical females and males to determine if all alterations in the genes controlling these traits are selected against.There are many existing traits of organisms, like the moth pheromones, that require the combined action of a number of genes to function properly, and on the surface it appears as if evolutionary forces would not have favored their development. There is a need to genetically dissect some of these traits to experimentally examine how evolution may have acted on single components of these traits. The moth system will serve as a model for such an analysis. The moths studied are crop pests, so the knowledge gained from these studies will help in designing better mating disruption tools that control these pests.