Ecophysiology of Heat-Mediation Abatement of Cytoplasmic Incompatibility

9604287 Karr拟议的研究调查了细菌感染对其感染宿主繁殖成功的影响。 由于细菌影响繁殖，它深刻地影响了宿主的种群和进化生物学。 这种名为沃尔巴克氏体的细菌会降低或消除雄性宿主与未受感染的雌性宿主生育后代的能力。 初步研究表明，温和的热休克，如在野外遇到的，可以减少生殖不相容性。 本研究将：（1）确定D.模拟线虫幼虫自然经历热休克;（2）确定温度范围和发育阶段，在该温度和发育阶段，不相容性可以被治愈;（3）区分CI减轻是否通过彻底杀死/抑制沃尔巴克氏体和/或通过增加热休克蛋白的表达来介导;（4）实验检查自然热休克是否真的治愈了自然种群中的生殖不相容性。 拟议中的研究有望整合生态和进化生理学，生殖生物学，分子生物学，种群生物学和细菌学的各个方面，并可能产生对每个领域都有意义的结果。 最终，这些信息可能有助于合理设计新形式的生物害虫控制。

9604287 Karr The proposed research investigates the effect of a bacterial infection on reproductive success of the host it infects. Because the bacteria influences reproduction, it profoundly impacts both the population and evolutionary biology of its host. The bacterium, Wolbachia, reduces or abolishes the ability of male hosts to father offspring with uninfected females. Research preliminary to this proposal establishes that mild heat shock such as that encountered in the wild can reduce the reproductive incompatibility. The research would: (1) Determine the frequency with which D. simulans larvae naturally experience heat shock; (2) Determine the range of temperatures and the developmental stages at which the incompatibility can be cured; (3) Distinguish whether CI-abatement occurs via outright killing/suppression of Wolbachia and/or is mediated by increased expression of heat-shock proteins; (4) Experimentally examine whether natural heat shock actually cures the reproductive incompatibility in natural populations. The proposed research promises to integrate diverse aspects of ecological and evolutionary physiology, reproductive biology, molecular biology, population biology, and bacteriology, and is likely to yield results significant to each of these areas. Ultimately, this information could be useful for the rational design of new forms of biological pest control.