DNA Methylation and Sex Allocation in the Parasitoid Wasp Nasonia vitripennis

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 m...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American naturalist 2015-10, Vol.186 (4), p.513-518
Main Authors: Cook, Nicola, Pannebakker, Bart A., Tauber, Eran, Shuker, David M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alleles
Animal behavior
Animals
Azacitidine - analogs & derivatives
Azacitidine - pharmacology
Decitabine
Diptera - parasitology
DNA Methylation
Epigenesis, Genetic
Epigenetics
Evolution
Female
Female animals
Gene expression
Genetic inheritance
Genome, Insect
Genomics
Hymenoptera
Insects
Laboratorium voor Erfelijkheidsleer
Laboratory of Genetics
Male
Mating behavior
Methylation
Nasonia vitripennis
Parasite hosts
PE&RC
Sex allocation
Sex Determination Processes
Sex Ratio
Wasps - drug effects
Wasps - genetics
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary: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.
ISSN:0003-0147
1537-5323
DOI:10.1086/682950