Crossing experiments and behavioral observations reveal reproductive incompatibility among three putative species of the whitefly Bemisia tabaci

The whitefly Bemisia tabaci has a global distribution and extensive genetic diversity. Recent phylogenetic analyses as well as crossing experiments suggest that B. tabaci is a complex composed of 〉 20 cryptic species, but more crossing studies are required to examine the reproductive compatibility among the putative species and thus further clarify the systematics of this species complex. We conducted crossing experiments and behavioral observations to investigate the reproductive compatibility between the Mediterranean, Asia II 3, and Asia II 1 putative species ofB. tabaci collected from Zhejiang, China. Female progeny were never produced in inter-species crosses, demonstrating a lack of egg fertilization; while 55%-75% females were produced in all the intra-species treatments. Continuous behavioral observations showed that frequent courtship events occurred in both intra-species treatments and inter-putative species crosses. However, copulation events occurred only in the three intra-species treatments with one exception： that one copulation event occurred between Asia II 3 and Mediterranean in the crosses where two cohorts of females and males of different putative species were enclosed together in a small arena but were not allowed access to their intra-specific mates for a long period of time. These data demonstrated complete reproductive isolation between the Mediterranean, Asia II 3, and Asia II 1 putative species, and further showed that the isolation is due to lack of copulation. Demonstration of reproductive isolation between the Mediterranean and two indigenous putative species from China provides further evidence for the existence of cryptic species within the B. tabaci complex.

Identification of Self-Incompatibility Genotypes in Some Sand Pears (Pyrus pyrifolia Nakai) by PCR-RFLP Analysis

The identification of self-incompatibility genotype （S-genotype） will be useful for selection of pollinizers and design of crossing in cultivar improvement of sand pear. This paper reported the identification of self-incompatibility genotypes of seven Chinese and two Japanese sand pear cultivars using PCR-RFLP analysis and S-RNase sequencing. The Sgenotypes of these cultivars were determined as follows： Huali 1 S1S3, Shounan S1S3, Xizilti S1S4, Qingxiang S3S7, Sanhua S2S7, Huangmi （Imamuranatsu） S1S6, Huali 2 S3S4, Baozhuli S7S33, Cangxixueli S5S15. S-RNase alleles （S1 to S9） in sand pear could be identified effectively by PCR-RFLP analysis.

Preparation and Performance of Geopolymers

The influence of each factor on the reaction of geopolymers material was investigated by using the orthogonal experimental design method, which got the optimal condition of reaction. Based on this results the performances of geopolymers were investigated. The results are as follows： （1） The effect of each factor on the compressive strength of geopolymers was different; （2） For paste the optimal condition of reaction is that the modulus and the concentration of sodium silicate solution are 1.2 and 40%, the calcined temperature and calcined time of kaolin are 800 ℃ and 2 h, and the liquid-solid ratio is 1.25; （3） When the pH value of solution is higher than l, the compressive strength of Geopolymers will not decrease as that in the water; （4） As the calcined temperature of samples were lower than 700 ℃ the heat-resistant of geopolymers was good;（5） Geopolymers is unlikely to react with the active aggregate.

Experimental evidence for heritable reproductive time in 2 allochronic populations of pine processionary moth

Phenology allows organisms to overcome seasonally variable conditions through life-cycle adjustment. Changes in phenology can drastically modify the evolutionary tra- jectory of a population, while a shift in the reproductive time may cause allochronic differentiation. The hypothesis of heritable reproductive time was experimentally tested, by studying a unique population of the pine processionary moth Thaumetopoeapityocampa （Den. ＆ Schiff.） which has a shifted phenology, and however co-occurs with the typical population following the classical life cycle. When populations of both types were reared under controlled conditions, the reproductive time was maintained asynchronous, as ob- served in the field. The shifted population was manipulated in the laboratory to reproduce later than usual, yet the offspring emerged in the next year at the expected dates thus ＂com- ing back＂ to the usual cycle. Hybrids from crosses performed between the 2 populations showed an intermediate phenology. From the emergence times of parents and offspring, a high heritability of the reproductive time （h = 0.76） was observed. The offspring ob- tained from each type of cross was genetically characterized using microsatellite markers. Bayesian clustering analysis confirmed that hybrids can he successfully identified and separated from the parental genetic classes by genotyping. Findings support the hypothesis that, for this particular population, incipient allochronic speciation is due to a heritable shift in the reproductive time that further causes assortative mating and might eventually cause ecological adaptation/maladaptation in response to environmental changes.

Further insight into reproductive incompatibility between putative cryptic species of the Bemisia tabaci whitefly complex

The whitefly Bemisia tabaci （Gennadius） （Hemiptera： Aleyrodidae）, with its global distribution and extensive genetic diversity, is now known to be a complex of over 35 cryptic species. However, a satisfactory resolution of the systematics of this species complex is yet to be achieved. Here, we designed experiments to examine reproductive compatibility among species with different levels of mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I （mtCOI） divergence. The data show that putative species with mtCOI divergence of 〉 8% between them consistently exhibited complete reproductive isolation. However, two of the putative species, Asia II 9 and Asia II 3, with mtCOI divergence of 4.47% between them, exhibited near complete reproductive compatibility in one direction of their cross, and partial reproductive compatibility in the other direction. Together with some recent reports on this topic from the literature, our data indicates that, while divergence in the mtCOI sequences provides a valid molecular marker for species delimitation in most clades, more genetic markers and more sophisticated molecular phylogeny will be required to achieve adequate delimitation of all species in this whitefly complex. While many attempts have been made to examine the reproductive compatibility among genetic groups of the B. tabaci complex, our study represents the first effort to conduct crossing experiments with putative species that were chosen with considerations of their genetic divergence. In light of the new data, we discuss the best strategy and protocols to conduct further molecular phylogenetic analysis and crossing trials, in order to reveal the overall pattern of reproductive incompatibility among species of this whitefly complex.