Genetic basis of interspecies oviposition deterrents impacting the horticultural pest, Drosophila suzukii.

所有生命领域的生物都参与物种间的交流，以提高其生殖适应性。鉴定相关信号和反应途径的遗传方法已经在微生物和植物以及越来越多的昆虫中取得了成功。该项目将利用果蝇中强大的遗传工具来识别物种间信号的分子途径，这些信号可以阻止害虫苏氏果蝇的产卵。铃木夜蛾是一种入侵害虫，对英国的软果和核果园艺构成威胁。与地方病果蝇如黑腹扁蝇不同，铃木扁蝇在成熟的果实中产卵。鉴于对杀虫剂控制的管制和抗药性的增加，制定综合虫害管理战略对铃木夜蛾的控制至关重要。最近的一项研究表明，通过事先将产卵基质暴露于黑腹扁虱，可以抑制铃木氏夜蛾的产卵，这是一种有希望的调查途径（Shaw等人，Pest management Sci, 2018）。本项目的目的是通过基因定义负责任的种间信号，为管理铃木夜蛾产卵提供信息。学生将研究D. melanogaster信号的遗传决定因素。这将通过比较不同黑腹夜蛾基因型（包括影响相关发育（卵巢、卵泡细胞）和生物合成途径（信息素、表皮碳氢化合物、性肽）的突变体）对铃木夜蛾产卵抑制的效率来实现。与此同时，信号的感官性质将通过使用已有的（Karageorgi et al., Curr Biol, 2017）和新的遗传工具对铃木氏菌进行遗传操作来评估。在人工产卵基质上鉴定的遗传差异将在实验室和半田间环境中使用果实进行验证。

Organisms across all domains of life engage in interspecies communication to enhance their reproductive fitness. Genetic approaches to identify relevant signalling and response pathways have had success in microbes and plants and increasingly in insects. The proposed project will take advantage of the powerful genetic tools available in Drosophila fruit flies to identify the molecular pathways underlying interspecies signals that act as oviposition deterrents to the pest species, Drosophila suzukii. D. suzukii is an invasive pest that poses a threat to UK soft and stone fruit horticulture. Unlike endemic fruit flies such as D. melanogaster, D. suzukii oviposits in ripening fruit. Given increased regulation of and resistance to insecticide controls it is important to develop integrated pest management strategies for D. suzukii control. One promising avenue of investigation is indicated by a recent study documenting deterrence of D. suzukii oviposition by prior exposure of oviposition substrates to D. melanogaster (Shaw et al., Pest Manag Sci, 2018). It is the aim of this project to genetically define the responsible interspecies signals to inform strategies for managing D. suzukii oviposition. The student will examine genetic determinants of the D. melanogaster signal. This will be done by comparing the efficiency of D. suzukii oviposition deterrence using different D. melanogaster genotypes including mutants impacting relevant developmental (ovaries, oenocytes) and biosynthetic pathways (pheromones, cuticular hydrocarbons, sex peptide). In parallel, the sensory nature of the signal will be evaluated using genetic manipulations of D. suzukii using both pre-existing (Karageorgi et al., Curr Biol, 2017) and new genetic tools. Genetic differences identified on artificial oviposition substrates will be verified using fruit in both lab and semi-field settings.