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DNA methylation and sex allocation in the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis

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Cooketal_AmNat2015.pdf (392.1Kb)
Date
10/2015
Author
Cook, Nicola
Pannebakker, Bart
Tauber, Eran
Shuker, David Michael
Keywords
DNA Methylation
Sex ratio
Local mate competition
Genomic conflict
Epigenetics
Haplodiploidy
QH301 Biology
DAS
BDC
R2C
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Abstract
The role of epigenetics in the control and evolution of behavior is being increasingly recognized. Here we test whether DNA methylation influences patterns of adaptive sex allocation in the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis. Female N. vitripennis allocate offspring sex broadly in line with local mate competition (LMC) theory. However, recent theory has highlighted how genomic conflict may influence sex allocation under LMC, conflict that requires parent-of-origin information to be retained by alleles through some form of epigenetic signal. We manipulated whole-genome DNA methylation in N. vitripennis females using the hypomethylating agent 5-aza-2′-deoxycytidine. Across two replicated experiments, we show that disruption of DNA methylation does not ablate the facultative sex allocation response of females, as sex ratios still vary with cofoundress number as in the classical theory. However, sex ratios are generally shifted upward when DNA methylation is disrupted. Our data are consistent with predictions from genomic conflict over sex allocation theory and suggest that sex ratios may be closer to the optimum for maternally inherited alleles.
Citation
Cook , N , Pannebakker , B , Tauber , E & Shuker , D M 2015 , ' DNA methylation and sex allocation in the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis ' , American Naturalist , vol. 186 , no. 4 , pp. 513-518 . https://doi.org/10.1086/682950
Publication
American Naturalist
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1086/682950
ISSN
0003-0147
Type
Journal article
Rights
Copyright © 2015 by The University of Chicago. This work is made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the final published version of the work, which was originally published at: https://doi.org/10.1086/682950
Description
This research was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NE/J024481/1). B.A.P. was supported by the Netherlands Genomics Initiative (Zenith 93511041).
Collections
  • University of St Andrews Research
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/9587

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