Original Article

Heredity (1995) 75, 485–494; doi:10.1038/hdy.1995.165

Cytological and developmental analysis of tychoparthenogenesis in Locusta migratoria

M C Pardo1, M D López-León1, J Cabrero1 and J P M Camacho1

1Departamento de Genética, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Granada, E-18071 Granada, Spain

Correspondence: JPM Camacho, Departamento de Genética, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Granada, E-18071 Granada, Spain

Received 13 March 1995.

Top

Abstract

A number of females of Locusta migratoria have shown tychoparthenogenetic reproduction (a kind of accidental thelytoky) characterized by: (i) a female-biased primary sex ratio; (ii) the production of embryos with abnormal ploidy levels, mainly haplodiploid mosaics; (iii) a longer time for embryo development; and (iv) the capability of producing female offspring that reproduced in the absence of males. Perfect diploidization is not essential for parthenogenetic embryos to reach the adult stage but a great majority of embryo cells must be diploid to complete properly embryogenesis and hatch. In addition, diploidy is apparently necessary to the ovary of parthenogenetic females so that eggs laid without mating can hatch. Cytological analyses of embryos at different developmental ages have shown that parthenogenetic embryos begin haploid and gradually become diploid, thus passing through a haplodiploid mosaic stage. The most likely mechanism for ploidy restoration is the restitution of the sister products of cleavage mitoses, although our results show that cell fusion could be another mechanism, the relative importance of which remains to be tested in future work. Although parthenogenetic females showed a fecundity comparable to that of sexual females, their reproductive output was significantly lower because of a decrease in the number of embryos per pod and a consequent decrease in the rate of embryo production.

Keywords:

Locusta migratoria, parthenogenesis, ploidy restoration, thelytoky, tychoparthenogenesis

Top

References

  1. Bergerard, J, and Seugé, J. 1959. La parthénogenèse accidentelle chez Locusta migratoria L. Bull Biol Fr Belg, 93, 16–37.
  2. Breeuwer, J A J, Stouthamer, R, Barns, S M, Pelletier, D A, Weisburg, W G, and Werren, J H. 1992. Phylogeny and cytoplasmic incompatibility microorganisms in the parasitoid wasp genus Nasonia (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) based on 16S ribosomal DNA sequences. Insect Mol Biol, 1, 25–36. | PubMed | ChemPort |
  3. Butlin, R K, Woodhatch, C W, and Hewitt, G M. 1987. Male spermatophore investment increases female fecundity in a grasshopper. Evolution, 41, 221–225. | ISI |
  4. Camacho, J P M, Cabrero, J, Viseras, E, López-León, M D, Navas-Castillo, J, and Alché, J D. 1991. G banding in two species of grasshopper and its relationship to C, N and fluorescence banding techniques. Genome, 34, 638–643.
  5. Chapman, R F. 1976. A Biology of Locusts. The Institute of Biology's Studies in Biology no. 71. Edward Arnold, London.
  6. Cuellar, O. 1977. Animal parthenogenesis. Science, 197, 837–843. | PubMed | ChemPort |
  7. Gwynne, D T. 1984. Courtship feeding increases female reproductive success in bushcrickets. Nature, 307, 361–363. | Article | ISI |
  8. Hamilton, A G. 1953. Thelytokous parthenogenesis for four generations in the Desert Locust Schistocerca gregaria Forsk (Acrididae). Nature, 172, 1153–1154. | Article |
  9. Hamilton, A G. 1955. Parthenogenesis in the Desert Locust (Schistocerca gregaria Forsk) and its possible effect on the maintenance of the species. Proc R Ento-mol Soc Lond A, 30, 103–114.
  10. Hewitt, G M. 1979. Grasshoppers and crickets. Animal Cytogenetics, vol. 3: Insecta 1 Orthoptera. Gebrüder Borntraeger, Berlin, Stuttgart.
  11. Hurst, L D. 1993. The incidences, mechanisms and evolution of cytoplasmic sex ratio distorters in animals. Biol Rev, 68, 121–193. | Article | ISI |
  12. Lamb, R Y, and Willey, R B. 1987. Cytological mechanisms of thelytokous parthenogenesis in insects. Genome, 29, 367–369.
  13. Louis, C, Pintureau, B, and Chapelle, L. 1993. Recherches sur 1'origine de l'unisexualité: la thermothérapie élimine à; la fois rickettsies et Parthénogenèse thély-toque chez un Trichogramme (Hym., Trichogrammati-dae). C r Acad Sci Paris, 316, Série III, 27–33
  14. Maynard Smith, J. 1977. The sex habits in plants and animals. In: Christiansen, F. B. and Fenchel, T. M. (eds) Measuring Selection in Natural Populations, pp. 315–331. Springer, Heidelberg.
  15. Maynard Smith, J. 1978. The Evolution of Sex. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
  16. Mullins, D E, Keil, C B, and White, R H. 1992. Maternal and paternal nitrogen investment in Blattella germanica (L.) (Dictyoptera; Blattellidae). J Exp Biol, 162, 55–72.
  17. Nabours, R K, and Foster, M E. 1929. Parthenogenesis and the inheritance of colour patterns in the Grouse Locust Paratettix texanus Hancock. Biol Bull Woods Hole, 54, 129–155.
  18. Nur, Y. 1989. Parthenogenesis. In: Rosen, D. (ed.) Armoured Scale Insects, Their Biology, Natural Enemies and Control, vol A, pp. 191–197. Elsevier Science Publishers, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
  19. Pardo, M C, Camacho, J P M, and Hewitt, G M. 1994a. Dynamics of ejaculate nutrient transfer in Locusta migratoria. Heredity, 73, 190–197.
  20. Pardo, M C, López-León, M D, Cabrero, J, and Camacho, J P M. 1994b. Transmission analysis of mitotically unstable B chromosomes in Locusta migratoria. Genome, 37, 1027–1034.
  21. Pardo, M C, López-León, M D, Hewitt, G M, and Camacho, J P M. 1995a. Female fitness is increased by frequent mating in grasshoppers. Heredity 74, 654–660.
  22. Pardo, M C, López-León, M D, Viseras, E, Cabrero, J, and Camacho, J P M. 1995b. Mitotic instability of B chromosomes during embryo development in Locusta migratoria. Heredity, 74, 164–169.
  23. Plotnikov, V I. 1915. Report of the Turkistan Entomological Station for 1912–15. Tashkent.
  24. Ridley, M. 1988. Mating frequency and fecundity in insects. Biol Rev, 63, 509–549. | ISI |
  25. Rousset, F, Bouchon, D, Pintureau, B, Juchault, P, and Solignac, M. 1992. Wolbachia endosymbionts responsible for various alterations of sexuality in arthropods. Proc R Soc B, 250, 91–98.
  26. Simmons, L W, and Bailey, W J. 1990. Resource influenced sex roles of Zaprochiline tettigoniids (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae). Evolution, 44, 1853–1868.
  27. Smith, D S. 1969. Oviposition, development of eggs and chromosome complement of eggs of virgin females of the grasshopper Melanoplus sanguinipes. Can Ent, 101, 23–27.
  28. Stouthamer, R. 1989. Causes of Thefytoky and Crossing Incompatibility in Several Trichogramma Species. Phd Thesis, University of California, Riverside.
  29. Stouthamer, R, Breeuwer, J A J, Luck, R F, and Werren, J H. 1993. Molecular identification of microorganisms associated with parthenogenesis. Nature, 361, 66–68. | Article | PubMed | ISI | ChemPort |
  30. Viseras, E, Camacho, J P M, Cano, M I, and Santos, J L. 1990. Relationship between mitotic instability and accumulation of B chromosomes in males and females of Locusta migratoria. Genome, 33, 23–29.
  31. White, M J D. 1973. Animal Cytology and Evolution, 3rd edn. Cambridge University Press, London and New York.
  32. Williams, G C. 1975. Sex and Evolution. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.

Extra navigation

.

naturejobs

More science jobs
Post a job for free
ADVERTISEMENT