Do Genetics Influence whether Apple Maggot Flies Diapause for One Winter vs. Multiple Years?

Authors: Leah Rosenheim, Thomas Powell

Field of Study: Science, Technology, Engineering, and/or Math

Program Affiliation: Summer Scholars and Artists Program (SSAP)

Faculty Mentors: Thomas Powell

Easel: 5

Timeslot: Afternoon

Abstract: Diapause is an important adaptation in insects, allowing them to survive cold winters and synchronize their life cycles to the environment. In some univoltine insects, a subset of individuals will diapause for multiple years rather than emerge after a single winter and this could be a bet-hedging strategy. This study investigates whether there is a genetic component influencing diapause duration - one winter vs. multiple years - in the apple maggot fly, Rhagoletis pomonella. Flies reared in a previous climate simulation experiment were used, and DNA was extracted from 60 flies that did 1-year diapause and 60 flies that did multiyear diapause; this process was repeated for flies under control and warming temperatures for four groups total. After the DNA was sequenced, reads were cleaned, trimmed to remove low quality bases, and aligned to the reference genome. Analysis is in progress.