Cytogenetic analysis of the Ethiopian fruit fly Dacus ciliatus (Diptera: Tephritidae).

E Drosopoulou, D Nestel, I Nakou, I Kounatidis, N T Papadopoulos, K Bourtzis, P Mavragani-Tsipidou

Department of Genetics, Development and Molecular Biology, School of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece.

Genetica 2011 Jun

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The Ethiopian fruit fly, Dacus ciliatus, is an important pest of cucurbits, which recently invaded the Middle East. The genetics and cytogenetics of D. ciliatus have been scarcely studied. Such information is, however, an essential basis for understanding the biology of insect pests, as well as for the design of modern control strategies. We report here the mitotic karyotype and detailed photographic maps of the salivary gland polytene chromosomes of this species. The mitotic metaphase complement consists of six pairs of chromosomes, including one pair of heteromorphic sex (XX/XY) chromosomes. The heterogametic sex is ascribed to the male. The analysis of the salivary gland polytene complement shows a total number of five long chromosomes (10 polytene arms), which correspond to the five autosomes of the mitotic nuclei, and a heterochromatic mass corresponding to the sex chromosomes. Banding patterns, as well as the most characteristic features and prominent landmarks of each polytene chromosome are presented and discussed. Chromosomal homologies between D. ciliatus and Bactrocera oleae are proposed by comparing chromosome banding patterns and by in situ hybridization of the hsp70 gene.

Citation

E Drosopoulou, D Nestel, I Nakou, I Kounatidis, N T Papadopoulos, K Bourtzis, P Mavragani-Tsipidou. Cytogenetic analysis of the Ethiopian fruit fly Dacus ciliatus (Diptera: Tephritidae). Genetica. 2011 Jun;139(6):723-32