Investigating the role of sexual conflict in parasitoid- host eco-evolutionary dynamics

研究性冲突在寄生生物-宿主生态进化动力学中的作用

• 批准号: 2883381
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Stirling
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2883381
• 关键词: Investigating; role; sexual; conflict; parasitoid

Finding ways to grow enough food to sustain the ever-growing human population whileminimising detrimental impacts on the natural environment is a pressing global challenge[1,2]. Current food production systems rely heavily on the use of agro-chemicals for pestcontrol, the negative impacts of which are extreme for species, ecosystems and forclimate change [3-7]. Integrated pest management (IPM) is one strategy that will becritical if we are to feed the human population without inflicting irreversible environmentaldamage. IPM prioritizes biodiversity-based pest control and considers the use of chemicalpesticides only as a last resort [8].Parasitoid wasps are a large group of insects, which are commonly used as a chemical-free means of controlling insect pests (biological control). Adults are free-living, femaleslay their eggs on or in other species and their offspring feed on this host, typically anotherinsect, invariably killing it. In addition to their economic value, parasitoid wasps have longbeen used by blue skies researchers to understand fundamental questions aboutevolution, ecology and physiology [9,10]. This research has supported their use in cropprotection and assisted biocontrol practitioners in selecting the most appropriate speciesto control a given pest [9,10].Despite the abundance of studies on parasitoid behavioural ecology, these species havereceived little attention in studies of sexual selection and sexual conflict [11]. Sexualconflict occurs when the optimum strategy or trait is different for males and females [12].For instance, the optimal mating rate is generally higher for males than females. This canresult in reduced fitness for females if accepting or resisting superfluous male copulationattempts is costly [12, 13]. If these costs manifest as reduced offspring production, therecan be consequences for recruitment and even population viability [13]For parasitoid wasps in natural and agricultural settings, sexual conflict may haveprofound consequences for parasitism rates. Understanding the extent to which sexualconflict influences individual and population fitness in these insects provides new andvaluable information on how aspects of these species' mating systems can influencehost-parasitoid dynamics and coevolution as well as the efficacy of pest control underdifferent IPM scenarios.

寻找种植足够的粮食以维持不断增长的人口的方法，同时对自然环境产生有害的影响是一项紧迫的全球挑战[1,2]。当前的粮食生产系统在很大程度上依赖于农业化学物质用于虫害，其负面影响对物种，生态系统和过度的变化是极端的[3-7]。综合有害生物管理（IPM）是一种策略，如果我们要养活人口而不造成不可逆转的环境造成的策略。 IPM优先考虑基于生物多样性的害虫控制，并认为仅作为最后一个度假胜地的化学肉药使用[8]。寄生虫黄蜂是一大批昆虫，通常用作无化学物质控制虫害的方法（生物控制）。成年人在其他物种上或其他物种上的卵子自由生活，他们的卵在这个宿主上的后代饲料，通常是另一个宿主，总是会杀死它。除了其经济价值外，寄生虫黄蜂还使用了蓝天研究人员使用的Longbeen来了解有关进化，生态学和生理学的基本问题[9,10]。这项研究支持了他们在农作物保护中的使用，并协助生物防治实践者选择了最合适的特定控制害虫[9,10] [9,10]。尽管对寄生虫行为生态学的丰富性，但这些物种在性选择和性冲突的研究中却很少关注。当男性和女性的最佳策略或特征不同时，就会发生性交[12]。例如，男性的最佳交配率通常高于女性。如果接受或抵抗多余的男性交配量的适应性降低，则这种适合性降低了[12，13]。如果这些成本表现为减少后代的产量，那么在自然和农业环境中寄生虫黄蜂的招募甚至人口生存力的后果[13]，性冲突可能对寄生虫率产生影响。了解性交在这些昆虫中影响个体和人口健康的程度提供了有关这些物种交配系统方面如何影响主寄生虫动力学和协同进化以及虫害控制不分散型IPM场景的疗效的新的和可关节的信息。