Collaborative Research: Host Race Formation Among Southern Hawthorn-Infesting Populations of Rhagoletis Pomonella

合作研究：感染南方山楂的苹果树Rhagoletis Pomonella群体中宿主种族的形成

• 批准号: 0614378
• 负责人: Charles Linn
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Cornell Univ - State: AWDS MADE PRIOR MAY 2010
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing grant
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-10-01 至 2009-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0614378&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Host; Race; Formation

The goal of this research project is to understand how the apple maggot fly, Rhagoletis pomonella, a major pest of apples, can form populations that specialize on different species of its native hawthorn food plants in the southern United States. Unlike insects such as grasshoppers, where all individuals of a given species can and do eat a wide range of food plants, the apple maggot and similar insects form local populations (termed "host races") that feed within the fruits of only one or a few plant species. To understand how they do this, fly populations attacking different species of hawthorns in the southern United States will be tested to determine: 1) if they preferentially orient toward the chemical odor of the fruit of the hawthorn species they infest--this is how the flies find their host plants in nature to mate on and lay eggs into fruit, 2) if the timing of the life cycle of the flies is adapted to differences in when the various hawthorn trees fruit--some southern hawthorns fruit very early in the season (May) and some late (October-November), and 3) the degree to which any observed differences in odor response and life cycle are genetically based.The broader impacts of the research are multi-faceted, having both important applied and basic benefits. Insects frequently shift their feeding to new crops. The apple maggot fly is a classic example, having shifted in the last 100 years from native hawthorns of little commercial interest to introduced apples of great economic value. Information about how this process occurs, which will be provided by research on southern hawthorn flies, is needed for better management of pests. For example, Rhagoletis pomonella flies from apple are repelled by the odor of red hawthorn, and vice versa, leading to the possibility that even better natural repellent odors might be found among the various southern hawthorn species. The project is also of basic scientific interest because shifts onto novel plants may serve as a trigger for speciation for many host specific insects. Finally, the project will provide important additional societal benefits by helping integrate science training and education across the local, community, and university levels

该研究项目的目标是了解苹果蛆蝇（Rhagoletis pomonella）（一种苹果的主要害虫）如何形成专门捕食美国南部本土山楂食用植物不同物种的种群。与蚱蜢等昆虫不同，在蚱蜢等昆虫中，某一特定物种的所有个体都可以并且确实吃多种食用植物，而苹果蛆和类似的昆虫则形成本地种群（称为“宿主种族”），仅以一种或几种植物物种的果实为食。为了了解它们是如何做到这一点的，将对美国南部攻击不同种类山楂树的苍蝇种群进行测试，以确定：1）它们是否优先向它们所侵染的山楂树果实的化学气味定向——这就是苍蝇在自然界中找到宿主植物进行交配并将卵产成果实的方式；2）苍蝇生命周期的时间是否适应了各种山楂树结果的时间差异——一些南方的山楂树结果子的时间差异。 山楂在季节早期（五月）和一些晚期（十月至十一月）结果，3）观察到的气味反应和生命周期差异在多大程度上是基于遗传的。这项研究的更广泛影响是多方面的，具有重要的应用和基本效益。昆虫经常将其食物转移到新作物上。苹果蛆蝇就是一个典型的例子，在过去的 100 年里，它从商业价值不大的本土山楂转移到具有巨大经济价值的引进苹果。为了更好地管理害虫，需要通过对南方山楂蝇的研究来提供有关这一过程如何发生的信息。例如，来自苹果的苹果蝇会被红山楂的气味所排斥，反之亦然，因此有可能在各种南方山楂品种中发现更好的天然驱避气味。该项目还具有基本的科学意义，因为向新植物的转变可能会触发许多宿主特定昆虫的物种形成。最后，该项目将通过帮助整合地方、社区和大学层面的科学培训和教育来提供重要的额外社会效益