昆虫的母代效应

Maternal effects in insects

母代效应 ,由于其特殊的作用方式 ,引起了许多进化生态学家的极大兴趣。近年来 ,随着研究的不断深入 ,特别是数量遗传学的引入 ,使该领域的研究取得了令人瞩目的成绩。该文就这几十年来对母代效应研究进行综述 ,论述昆虫生活史中的母代效应及其适应意义 ,阐明以下几个问题 :(1)母代效应影响昆虫哪些特征 ;(2 )环境因素对母代效应的影响 ;(3)母代对环境刺激的敏感期 ;(4)子代受母代效应调控的敏感期 ;(5 )母代效应调控子代生长发育的生化机制 ;(6 )种群内和种群间母代效应的基因差异。

Maternal effects in insects have been the subject of considerable interest among evolutionary ecologists for a long time. In recent years, intensive research, especially with the introduction of quantitative genetics, has allowed considerable progress in this field. In this review, we survey the growing literature on maternal effects with emphasis on the following aspects. 1 . Dependence of certain characters, such as diapause, polymorphisms, polyphenisms and offspring quality on maternal effects. 2 . Inducement of maternal effects by environmental factors, particularly photoperiod and temperature. 3 . Sensitive stages in the maternal generation to the inducing factors, with adults being the most sensitive in many species. 4 . Developmental stages in offspring controlled by maternal effects, the egg stage in most cases. 5 . The possible biochemical mechanisms involved in maternal control of offspring development. 6 . Genetic variation of maternal effects within and among populations. We also briefly discuss the adaptive significance of maternal effects and their relation to evolution of insect life history.