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The History of Humanity and its relationship with the growing of beans probably beginning more than 5000 years ago when populations of Latin America began to master initial knowledge regarding the planting, harvest and storage of the wild seeds of common beans (Phaseolus sp). In a short time, bean consumption increased considerably throughout the w...
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... Host shift and transcription in Z. subfasciatus 3 stock population was maintained in our laboratory on bean seeds at 29 ± 2°C and 70 ± 5 % relative humidity in the dark. Additional information on the biology of this insect can be obtained from Bondar (1937), Teixeira et al. (2009), Teixeira and Gris (2011), and Teixeira and Zucoloto (2012). ...
In phytophagous insects, adaptation to a new host is a dynamic process, in which early and later steps may be underpinned by different features of the insect genome. Here, we tested the hypothesis that early steps of this process are underpinned by a shift in gene expression patterns. We set up a short-term artificial selection experiment (10 generations) for the use of an alternative host (Cicer arietinum) on populations of the bean beetle Zabrotes subfasciatus. Using Illumina sequencing on young adult females, we show the selected populations differ in the expression of genes associated to stimuli, signalling, and developmental processes. Particularly, the “C. arietinum” population shows upregulation of histone methylation genes, which may constitute a strategy for fine-tuning the insect global gene expression network. Using qPCR on body regions, we demonstrated that the “Phaseolus vulgaris” population upregulates the genes polygalacturonase and egalitarian and that the expression of an odorant receptor transcript variant changes over generations. Moreover, in this population we detected the existence of vitellogenin (Vg) variants in both males and females, possibly harbouring canonical reproductive function in females and extracellular unknown functions in males. This study provides the basis for future genomic investigations seeking to shed light on the nature of the proximate mechanisms involved in promoting differential gene expression associated to insect development and adaptation to new hosts.
... The level of genetic differentiation in the Brazilian populations of this species is low, and its geographic structure is weak (Souza et al., 2008), so that, in our experiments, we did not control for the random effect of families. Additional information on the biology of this insect can be obtained from Bondar (1937), Teixeira et al. (2009), Teixeira and Gris (2011), and Teixeira and Zucoloto (2012). Each of our experimental units consisted of a newly emerged mating pair (0-24 h) collected from the stock population. ...
Temperature is among the most influential factors in animal biology, and especially thermal fluctuations are key determinants of life history traits for ectothermic organisms. Diet characteristics add complexity to the effect of temperature on animals' life history traits. This is even more intricate in phytophagous insects that develop inside hosts. Here, using the seed beetle Zabrotes subfasciatus Boheman we tested life history trait response to five different ambient temperatures (15, 25, 30, 35, and 45 °C). We also tested the effect of the interaction between temperature and diet on the weevils' life history traits and estimated fitness for individuals at different temperature and food supplementation conditions. We first showed that the relationship between temperature and egg size and number, and adult emergence is altered by sugar ingestion, mainly at 30 °C. Additionally, we showed that temperature and sugar ingestion have opposite effects on longevity, with this trait being heightened by sugar ingestion at 25 °C. Interestingly, except at 35 °C, egg size shows a response that opposes the temperature‐size rule, which states increasing environmental temperature reduces insect's size. Finally, excluding the extreme temperatures, fitness patterns increased with temperature and the clearer effect of parental feeding on fitness was registered at 30 °C. Since 30 °C is the temperature at which our weevil populations are maintained in the laboratory, these results point to a possible long‐term “acclimation effect” on the weevils' fitness. Thus, testing the effect of the temperature experienced by the original population on the experimental weevils' fitness might shed light on the biological explanation of the observed temperature vs diet interaction.
... Emerging adults mate and lay eggs, thus starting a new cycle. Additional information on the life history of this insect can be obtained from Bondar (1937), Souza et al. (2008), Teixeira et al. (2009), Teixeira & Gris (2011) and Teixeira & Zucoloto (2012). Previous research has demonstrated the existence of a preference hierarchy in females of this species for different host types, which are representative species of Fabaceae: bean > soy > lentil > chickpea (Teixeira et al., 2008;Guzzo et al., 2018). ...
Income breeding animals support reproduction by the intake of energy and molecular building blocks during adulthood. Capital breeders, in contrast, fuel reproduction by the intake of materials during the larval stage. There exists, however, some controversy as to whether adult feeding in capital breeders actually increases fitness. We tested whether individuals feed as adults in the weevil Zabrotes subfasciatus Boheman, whether they equally accept carbohydrate‐ or nitrogen‐rich food (sugar or yeast), whether food ingestion varies with the available host type and whether feeding as adults alters life history traits. The hosts tested were three varieties of Phaseolus vulgaris , Carioca, Jalo, and Preto; Vigna unguiculata Frade; and Vicia faba . We also tested whether sugar ingestion affects life history traits differently in the presence of different host types. We found that Z. subfasciatus feed as adults and equally accept sugar and yeast, and food ingestion depends on host type. Sugar and yeast significantly promote oviposition of larger eggs on Carioca seeds and enhance adult emergence, and sugar ingestion increases longevity. Moreover, the insects avoid feeding when on V. faba seeds, on which they did not oviposit. Mean fitness values showed the following hierarchy: Carioca = Jalo > Frade > Preto > V. faba . These results show that the capital breeder Z. subfasciatus feed as adults, which increases life history traits and suggests the existence of a hierarchy of performance on different hosts, with the P. vulgaris varieties Carioca and Jalo offering the best conditions.
... The level of genetic differentiation in the Brazilian populations of this species is low, and its geographic structure is weak (Souza et al., 2008). For more information on the life history of this insect, see Bondar (1937), Teixeira et al. (2009), Teixeira and Gris (2011), and Teixeira and Zucoloto (2012). ...
_Zabrotes subfasciatus_ uses _Phaseolus vulgaris_ seeds as its main host and reacts to variations in the availability of seeds by adjusting egg size and number. When faced to choose among different hosts, however, this insect shows the following preference hierarchy: bean > soy > lentil > chickpea, meaning that it is quite able to use species initially rejected as hosts for oviposition. Here, we investigated how this insect would react when placed in environments with different insect densities and allowed to choose between two types of seeds with contrasting levels of acceptability as substrates for oviposition. The experimental setting compared four levels of resource competition (density) by placing 1, 2, 4, or 6 couples within a Petri dish with 2 grains of _P. vulgaris_ and 2 grains of _Cicer arietinum_. During the 7-day oviposition period, the following four behaviors were identified and quantified: fleeing, mating, inspecting _P. vulgaris,_ and inspecting _C. arietinum_. We correlated these behaviors with fecundity. The most common behavior revealed by correspondence analyses plots was fleeing (searching for a new resource), followed by inspecting and mating (_p_ < 0.001). Increasing competition diminished the inspecting behavior (of both hosts), reduced oviposition on _P. vulgaris_ (the preferred host) and increased oviposition on _C. arietinum_ (the less-preferred host), promoted fleeing and augmented the number of eggs glued to Petri dishes (egg dumping, _p_ < 0.0001). Mating occurred mainly in situations of intermediate density. We previously demonstrated the existence of a preference hierarchy for different hosts and showed that artificial selection increases the oviposition preference for the less-preferred host. Here, we found that fleeing and egg dumping are the main strategies for avoiding competition and that these behaviors may support niche broadening in _Z. subfasciatus_.
