Annals of the Entomological Society of America (1999) 92, 250-259

Frantisek Marec, Ivana Kollárová and Jaroslav Pavelka (1999)
Radiation-induced inherited sterility combined with a genetic sexing system in Ephestia kuehniella (Lepidoptera : Pyralidae)
Annals of the Entomological Society of America 92 (2), 250-259
Abstract: The Mediterranean flour moth, Ephestia kuehniella Zeller, is the only lepidopteran pest in which a genetic sexing technique is available. We investigated the potential of using genetic sexing to enhance the effectiveness of F₁ sterility in population suppression. The irradiation dose-response relationship in the parental (P) generation of the moth was determined and related to the level of inherited sterility expressed in the F₁ generation. One generation before irradiation, males of the BL-2 strain, which are trans-heterozygous for 2 sex-linked recessive lethal mutations (sl-2 and sl-15), were mated to females of the wild-type strain WT-C. Progeny of these matings consisted exclusively of males (sl/+). All female progeny died because they were hemizygous for either sl-2 or sl-15. The sl/+ males were treated with 8 doses of gamma rays ranging from 100 to 350 Gy and mated to WT-C females. The resulting data on the P and F₁ generations revealed that E. kuehniella is extremely radioresistant. Irradiation at all doses had little influence on the mating success of sl/+ males and on fecundity of parental pairs. At lower doses, most embryonic mortality originated from the expression of lethal alleles sl-2 and sl-15. The egg hatch significantly decreased starting at 150 Gy, but effects of irradiation became evident only at doses higher than 200 Gy. In reciprocal F₁ matings, the level of induced inherited sterility correlated positively with the irradiation dose. F₁ males exhibited a higher level of induced sterility than F₁ females; it indicates that induced mutations have a sex-dependent impact. Optimal doses for the induction of F₁ sterility in E. kuehniella with the use of genetic sexing are in the range of 175-200 Gy.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Database assignments for author(s): Frantisek Marec

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
control - general

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Ephestia kuehniella