Our understanding of how natural selection should shape sex allocation is perhaps more developed than for any other trait. However, this understanding is not matched by our knowledge of the genetic basis of sex allocation. Here, we examine the genetic basis of sex ratio variation in the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis, a species well known for its response to local mate competition (LMC). W...

We address the problem of finding statistically significant associations between cis-regulatory motifs and functional gene sets, in order to understand the biological roles of transcription factors. We develop a computational framework for this task, whose features include a new statistical score for motif scanning, the use of different scores for predicting targets of different motifs, and new...

The genetic basis of morphological differences among species is still poorly understood. We investigated the genetic basis of sex-specific differences in wing size between two closely related species of Nasonia by positional cloning a major male-specific locus, wing-size1 (ws1). Male wing size increases by 45% through cell size and cell number changes when the ws1 allele from N. giraulti is bac...

The evolution of genetic networks is a fascinating and complex topic that has long intrigued researchers. The genetic network controlling early embryonic patterning in Drosophila represents one of the best understood networks in developmental biology. Thus, the realization that major components of the network are not conserved features of insect embryogenesis provided the scientific field with ...

The most common Wolbachia-induced phenotype in insects is cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI), which occurs when sperm from infected males fertilize eggs from uninfected females. CI produces distinct phenotypes in three closely related haplo-diploid species of the genus Nasonia: mortality in N. longicornis and N. giraulti, and conversion to male development in N. vitripennis. We demonstrate that t...

A central question in evolutionary biology concerns the population and genetic processes by which new species arise. Here, the genetic basis of hybrid breakdown between two haplodiploid species, Nasonia vitripennis and N. giraulti is investigated. Hybridization between the two species is normally prevented by microorganisms that cause bidirectional incompatibility. However, after elimination of...

Supercooling points (SCPs) and low temperature survival were determined for diapausing and nondiapausing larvae of the ectoparasitoid Nasonia vitripennis. Neither nondiapausing nor diapausing larvae could survive tissue freezing. The SCP profiles were nearly identical for nondiapause-destined (-27 degrees C) and diapausing larvae (-25 degrees C), but these values were not indicative of the lowe...