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GENETIC CONTROL OF INSECT POPULATIONS: ISOLATION AND FITNESS DETERMINATION OF AUTOSOMAL TRANSLOCATIONS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

J. A. Keith Reid  and
C. F. Wehrhahn
J. A. Keith Reid
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario
C. F. Wehrhahn
Affiliation:
Institute of Animal Resource Ecology and Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia
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Abstract

Recent advances in genetic insect control theory have made it important to investigate the fitness effects of, and isolation procedures for, autosomal translocations. We isolated 57 autosomal translocations in Drosophila melanogaster (Dipt., Dros.). Twenty-one were homozygous-viable and a few of these were almost as viable as wild-types. From data obtained during the isolation of these translocations it appears that those translocations whose heterozygotes produce high levels of unbalanced gametes have the same range of homozygous viabilities as others. We may infer, therefore, that it is possible to use our simple marker-free isolation method to isolate translocations with sufficiently low heterozygote and sufficiently high homozygote fitness to make population replacement practicable.

This is confirmed in population cage competition experiments. It appears that between 5 and 10% of induced marker-free translocations may be useful for population replacement.

Résumé

Des découvertes récentes, reliées à la théorie du contrôle génétique des insectes, ont souligné l’importance des études sur (1) les effets des translocations autosomiques sur la vitalité des organismes et (2) les techniques d’isolement de ces translocations. Nous avons isolé 57 translocations autosomiques induites chez Drosophila melanogaster. Vingt et une de ces translocations étaient homozygotes viables et certaines étaient aussi viables que le type sauvage. A partir des résultats obtenus au cours de l’isolement de ces translocations, il paraît que les translocations dont les hétérozygotes produisent des nombres élevés de gamètes anormaux démontrent autant de viabilité homozygote que les autres. Nous pouvons par conséquent déduire qu’il est possible d’utiliser notre méthode pour isoler des translocations ayant une proportion suffisamment basse de vitalité hétérozygote et suffisamment élevée de vitalité homozygote pour que le remplacement de la population soit praticable.

Ceci se confirme par des expériences sur la compétition de populations en cages. Il apparaît qu’entre 5 et 10% des translocations induites et non marquées pourraient servir au remplacement de population.

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 108 , Issue 12 , December 1976 , pp. 1409 - 1415
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1976

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