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One quantitative trait locus for intra‐ and interspecific variation in a sex pheromone
Author(s) -
Groot A. T.,
Staudacher H.,
Barthel A.,
Inglis O.,
Schöfl G.,
Santangelo R. G.,
GebauerJung S.,
Vogel H.,
Emerson J.,
Schal C.,
Heckel D. G.,
Gould F.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
molecular ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.619
H-Index - 225
eISSN - 1365-294X
pISSN - 0962-1083
DOI - 10.1111/mec.12171
Subject(s) - biology , quantitative trait locus , intraspecific competition , interspecific competition , genetics , reproductive isolation , pheromone , heliothis virescens , genetic variation , noctuidae , gene , evolutionary biology , zoology , ecology , population , lepidoptera genitalia , demography , sociology
Even though premating isolation is hypothesized to be a major driving force in speciation, its genetic basis is poorly known. In the noctuid moth Heliothis subflexa, one group of sex pheromone components, the acetates, emitted by the female, plays a crucial isolating role in preventing interspecific matings to males of the closely related Heliothis virescens , in which females do not produce acetates and males are repelled by them. We previously found intraspecific variation in acetates in H. subflexa : females in eastern N orth A merica contain significantly more acetates than females in W estern M exico. Here we describe the persistence of this intraspecific variation in laboratory‐reared strains and the identification of one major quantitative trait locus ( QTL ), explaining 40% of the variance in acetate amounts. We homologized this intraspecific QTL to our previously identified interspecific QTL using restriction‐associated DNA ( RAD ) tags. We found that a major intraspecific QTL overlaps with one of the two major interspecific QTL . To identify candidate genes underlying the acetate variation, we investigated a number of gene families with known or suspected acetyl‐ or acyltransferase activity. The most likely candidate genes did not map to our QTL , so that we currently hypothesize that a transcription factor underlies this QTL . Finding a single, large QTL that impacts variation in pheromone blends between and within species is, to our knowledge, the first such example for traits that have been demonstrated to affect premating isolation.