title: Apomictic parthenogenesis in a parasitoid wasp Meteorus pulchricornis, uncommon in the haplodiploid order Hymenoptera.
abstract: Although apomixis is the most common form of parthenogenesis in diplodiploid arthropods, it is uncommon in the haplodiploid insect order Hymenoptera. We found a new type of spontaneous apomixis in the Hymenoptera, completely lacking meiosis and the expulsion of polar bodies in egg maturation division, on the thelytokous strain of a parasitoid wasp Meteorus pulchricornis (Wesmael) (Braconidae, Euphorinae) on pest lepidopteran larvae Spodoptera litura (Fabricius) (Noctuidae). The absence of the meiotic process was consistent with a non-segregation pattern in the offspring of heterozygous females, and no positive evidence was obtained for the induction of thelytoky by any bacterial symbionts. We discuss the conditions that enable the occurrence of such rare cases of apomictic thelytoky in the Hymenoptera, suggesting the significance of fixed heterosis caused by hybridization or polyploidization, symbiosis with bacterial agents, and occasional sex. Our finding will encourage further genetic studies on parasitoid wasps to use asexual lines more wisely for biological control.
authors: Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University, Kobe, Hyogo 657-8501, Japan.
authors: Y
authors: Y
authors: Tsutsui
authors: Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University, Kobe, Hyogo 657-8501, Japan.
authors: K
authors: K
authors: Maeto
authors: Kansai Research Center, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Kyoto, Kyoto 612-0855, Japan.
authors: K
authors: K
authors: Hamaguchi
authors: Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University, Kobe, Hyogo 657-8501, Japan.
authors: Y
authors: Y
authors: Isaki
authors: Graduate School of Human Development and Environment, Kobe University, Kobe, Hyogo 657-8501, Japan.
authors: Y
authors: Y
authors: Takami
authors: Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Kobe University, Kobe, Hyogo 657-8501, Japan.
authors: T
authors: T
authors: Naito
authors: Graduate School of Biosphere Sciences, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima 739-8511, Japan.
authors: K
authors: K
authors: Miura
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D007564:Japan; D007814:Larva / Q000469:parasitology / Q000502:physiology; D008540:Meiosis; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D010312:Parthenogenesis; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012098:Reproduction; D013045:Species Specificity; D018411:Spodoptera / Q000254:growth & development / Q000469:parasitology; D013559:Symbiosis; D014863:Wasps / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000502:physiology*