The Genetic Architecture Underlying Biting in the Pitcher-Plant Mosquito, Wyeomyia smithii

Datum

2016-06

Autor:innen

Kinglsey, Nicole B.

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Verlag

University of Oregon

Zusammenfassung

By taking multiple blood meals, a female mosquito is ideally suited as a vector for transmitting blood-borne diseases. With the ultimate goal of preventing pathogen transmission by mosquitoes, we determined the genetic architecture underlying blood feeding (biting) in Wyeomyia smilhii. We crossed an obligately non-biting northern population and a biting southern population of Wj,eomyia smithii and assayed the propensity to bite among the biting parent, Fl, F2, and backcross generations. A JointScaling test revealed that the evolutionary transformation from a southern, bloodfeeding population to a northern, obligate non-biting population involved additive and dominance, but not maternal or epistatic effects. This result contrasts markedly with earlier findings in other phenotypes that epistasis plays a consistent role in the evolution of seasonal adaptation in this species.

Beschreibung

22 pages. A thesis presented to the Department of Biology and the Clark Honors College of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for degree of Bachelor of Science, Spring 2016.

Schlagwörter

Biology, Evolution, Additive, Dominance, Blood Feeding, Disease Vector, Line-cross

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