Trade-offs between survival, longevity, and reproduction, and variation of survival tolerance in Mediterranean Bemisia tabaci after temperature stress.

Zhi-Chuang Lü,Jian-Ying Guo,Yan-Min Wang,Hao Yu,Shao-Guang Zhu,Fang-Hao Wan,Oliver Martin

doi:10.1093/jis/14.1.124

Abstract

The invasive Mediterranean Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) has emerged as one of the most common agricultural pests in the world. In the present study, we examined the cross-tolerance, fitness costs, and benefits of thermal tolerance and the variation in the responses of life history traits after heat-shock selection. The results showed that survival and longevity of Mediterranean B. tabaci were decreased significantly after direct or cross temperature stress and that the number of eggs per female was not reduced significantly. Furthermore, heat-shock selection dramatically increased the survival of Mediterranean B. tabaci within two generations, and it did not significantly affect the egg number per female within five generations. These results indicated that there was a trade-off between survival, longevity, and reproduction in Mediterranean B. tabaci after temperature stress. The improvement in reproduction was costly in terms of decreased survival and longevity, and there was a fitness consequence to temperature stress. In addition, heat tolerance in Mediterranean B. tabaci increased substantially after selection by heat shock, indicating a considerable variation for survival tolerance in this species. This information could help us better understand the thermal biology of Mediterranean B. tabaci within the context of climate change.

Highlights

Ambient temperature influences virtually all biochemical and physiological processes in ectothermic animals, and it is one of the most important environmental factors in determining their survival and dispersal (Cossins and Bowler 1987)
Compared with the adults exposed to -12°C for 1 h, Mediterranean B. tabaci adults had a significantly reduced survival rate and longevity after exposure to 39°C for 1 h followed by recovery at 26°C for 1 h and exposure to 12°C for 1 h, and the number of eggs per female was significantly increased (t = 3.16; P < 0.01) (Fig. 2A)
We found that, when compared with control adults exposed to -12°C or 45°C for 1 h, the survival rate of Mediterranean B. tabaci adults was significantly decreased after exposure to 39°C for 1 h that was followed by recovery at 26°C and exposure to -12°C for 1 h, or after exposure to 10°C for 1 h that was followed by recovery at 26°C for 1 h and exposure to 45°C for 1 h, respectively

Summary

Introduction

Ambient temperature influences virtually all biochemical and physiological processes in ectothermic animals, and it is one of the most important environmental factors in determining their survival and dispersal (Cossins and Bowler 1987). Many studies of extreme temperature tolerance examined the benefits accrued (Chown and Terblanche 2007, Whitman and Agrawal 2009), far fewer studies considered the fitness costs that arise from thermal stress (Hoffmann 1995, Thomson et al 2001, Basson et al 2012). Another critical problem, which is poorly understood, is the potential for variant responses in life history traits to thermal selection

Methods

Results

Conclusion