Rolston, Alec and Meade, Conor and Boyle, Stephen and Kakouli-Duarte, Thomae and Downes, Martin (2009) Intraspecific variation among isolates of the entomopathogenic nematode Steinernema feltiae from Bull Island, Ireland. Nematology, 11 (3). pp. 439-451. ISSN 1388-5545

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Abstract

The application of large numbers of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN) to control insect pests of agriculture is likely to have an impact on the local EPN fauna, yet little is known about the intraspecific relationships between EPN populations, particularly with regard to phylogeny and outbreeding. Here we assess the fitness, with regards to fecundity, host insect mortality and time taken to produce progeny, of isolates of Steinernema feltiae from Bull Island, Ireland. Exon-primed, intron-crossing (EPIC) PCR was used to examine intraspecific phylogenies between S. feltiae isolates, and identified up to three possible colonisation events of Bull Island. EPIC-PCR grouped two isolates, 33.D.(2) and 59.F.(2), separately from the remaining ten S. feltiae isolates These same two isolates consistently performed poorly in all fitness assessments. Following the crossbreeding of all isolates in Galleria mellonella, the number of host cadavers exhibiting emerging infective juveniles was significantly fewer than expected and there were significant differences between isolates in the number of days until progeny were observed. Host insect mortality varied between 40 and 87%. Such intraspecific variation may be a result of adaptation to different microhabitats of Bull Island, which in turn may be accentuated by laboratory culture practices.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	The definitive version of this article is available at Nematology Vol.11 No.3(2009) pp.439-451 DOI:10.1163/156854109X447015 . This research was funded by the EMBARK initiative, funded by the Irish Council for Science, Engineering and Technology (IRCSET). We thank Dublin Corporation and Pat Corrigan for permission to sample at North Bull Island.
Keywords:	EPIC-PCR; fitness; insect; intron; progeny; variation;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Science and Engineering > Biology
Item ID:	3792
Depositing User:	Dr. Conor Meade
Date Deposited:	10 Jul 2012 13:18
Journal or Publication Title:	Nematology
Publisher:	Brill Academic Publishers
Refereed:	No
Funders:	Irish Council for Science, Engineering and Technology (IRCSET)
URI:	http://www.brill.nl/nematology
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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