Absence of Complementary Sex Determination in the Parasitoid Wasp Genus Asobara (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)

Wen Juan Ma*, Bram Kuijper, Jetske G. de Boer, Louis van de Zande, Leo W. Beukeboom, Bregje Wertheim, Bart A. Pannebakker

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal/periodicalArticleScientificpeer-review

20 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

An attractive way to improve our understanding of sex determination evolution is to study the underlying mechanisms in closely related species and in a phylogenetic perspective. Hymenopterans are well suited owing to the diverse sex determination mechanisms, including different types of Complementary Sex Determination (CSD) and maternal control sex determination. We investigated different types of CSD in four species within the braconid wasp genus Asobara that exhibit diverse life-history traits. Nine to thirteen generations of inbreeding were monitored for diploid male production, brood size, offspring sex ratio, and pupal mortality as indicators for CSD. In addition, simulation models were developed to compare these observations to predicted patterns for multilocus CSD with up to ten loci. The inbreeding regime did not result in diploid male production, decreased brood sizes, substantially increased offspring sex ratios nor in increased pupal mortality. The simulations further allowed us to reject CSD with up to ten loci, which is a strong refutation of the multilocus CSD model. We discuss how the absence of CSD can be reconciled with the variation in life-history traits among Asobara species, and the ramifications for the phylogenetic distribution of sex determination mechanisms in the Hymenoptera.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere60459
JournalPLoS ONE
Volume8
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 02 Apr 2013
Externally publishedYes

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