Publication details
Reprodukční kompatibilita hostitelských linií štěnice domácí (Cimex lectularius)
| Title in English | Reproductive compatibility of the bedbugs host lines (Cimex lectularius) |
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| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2020 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | In recent decades, processes of ecological speciation have received increasing attention, both in the case of allopathic and sympathetic divergence. The widespread concept of ecological speciation usually assumes that the gene flow barrier will develop as a result of divergence due to selection against hybridization of ecologically different populations. However, an alternative scenario in which the reproductive barrier arises as a direct result of the species specific ecology (without first accumulating genetic differences) is often neglected. In this case, the reproductive barrier would be due to population phenotypic plasticity. Our model organism - Cimex lectularius - represents two genetically isolated host lines associated with humans and bats. The cooperation of four sites (Prague, Brno, Bayreuth and Dresden) is currently testing the effect of specific food (human and bat blood) on the sperm phenotype and consequently on the reproductive compatibility of the bug host lines. An essential part of the project is a test of the effect of the genetic component on line compatibility. Therefore, we compare the fertility of females mated with male and foreign host lines on a unified diet in all combinations of 3 human populations and 3 bat populations. Preliminary evaluation of 370 mating data showed a positive effect of the female line on egg-laying, as well as a positive effect of the male line on progeny survival (based on data from 939 offspring). Because preliminary results even pointed to a possible heterogeneous effect in crossing distant lines, so far it can be said that there is no reproductive barrier due to genomic incompatibility between the bug host lines. Our results do not yet rule out that the different ecology of the lines could actually be behind the reproductive barrier of the lines. |
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