Genomics of sex allocation in the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis
Abstract
Background Whilst adaptive facultative sex allocation has been widely studied at the phenotypic level across a broad range of organisms, we still know remarkably little about its genetic architecture. Here, we explore the genome-wide basis of sex ratio variation in the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis, perhaps the best studied organism in terms of sex allocation, and well known for its response to local mate competition. Results We performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for single foundress sex ratios using iso-female lines derived from the recently developed outbred N. vitripennis laboratory strain HVRx. The iso-female lines capture a sample of the genetic variation in HVRx and we present them as the first iteration of the Nasonia vitripennis Genome Reference Panel (NVGRP 1.0). This panel provides an assessment of the standing genetic variation for sex ratio in the study population. Using the NVGRP, we discovered a cluster of 18 linked SNPs, encompassing 9 annotated loci associated with sex ratio variation. Furthermore, we found evidence that sex ratio has a shared genetic basis with clutch size on three different chromosomes. Conclusions Our approach provides a thorough description of the quantitative genetic basis of sex ratio variation in Nasonia at the genome level and reveals a number of inter-related candidate loci underlying sex allocation regulation.
Citation
Pannebakker , B A , Cook , N , van den Heuvel , J , van de Zande , L & Shuker , D M 2020 , ' Genomics of sex allocation in the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis ' , BMC Genomics , vol. 21 , 499 . https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-020-06904-4
Publication
BMC Genomics
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
1471-2164Type
Journal article
Description
This research was funded by the Netherlands Genomics Initiative (Zenith 93511041) and the by the Natural Environment Research Council (NE/J024481/1).Collections
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