Molecular Approaches to Fundamental and Applied Entomology

512 Pages·1993·10.752 MB·English

by  Richard H. ffrench-Constant (auth.), John Oakeshott, Max J. Whitten (eds.)

Springer Series in
Experimental Entomology
Thomas A. Miller, Editor
Springer Series in Experimental Entomology
Editor: T.A. Miller
Neuroanatomical Techniques
Edited by N.J. Strausfeld and T.A. Miller
Sampling Methods in Soybean Entomology
Edited by M. Kogan and D. Herzog
Neurohormonal Techniques in Insects
Edited by T.A. Miller
Cuticle Techniques in Arthropods
Edited by T.A. Miller
Functional Neuroanatomy
Edited by N.J. Strausfeld
Techniques in Pheromone Research
Edited by H.E. Hummel and T.A. Miller
Measurement of Ion Transport and Metabolic Rate in Insects
Edited by T.J. Bradley and T.A. Miller
Neurochemical Techniques in Insect Research
Edited by H. Breer and T.A. Miller
Methods for the Study of Pest Diabrotica
Edited by J.L. Krysan and T.A. Miller
Insect-Plant Interactions
Edited by J.R. Miller and T.A. Miller
Immunological Techniques in Insect Biology
Edited by L.I. Gilbert and T.A. Miller
Heliothis: Research Methods and Prospects
Edited by M.P. Zalucki
Rice Insects: Management Strategies
Edited by E.A. Heinrichs and T.A. Miller
Molecular Approaches to Fundamental and Applied Entomology
Edited by J. Oakeshott and M.J. Whitten
John Oakeshott Max J. Whitten
Editors
Molecular Approaches to
Fundamental and Applied
Entomology
With 59 Illustrations
Springer-Verlag
New York Berlin Heidelberg London Paris
Tokyo Hong Kong Barcelona Budapest
John Oakeshott Max J. Whitten
CSIRO CSIRO
Division of Entomology Division of Entomology
Molecular Biology and Molecular Biology and
Physiology Section Physiology Section
Black Mountain, Canberra ACT Black Mountain, Canberra ACT
Australia Australia
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Molecular approaches to fundamental and applied entomology / [edited
by] John Oakeshott, Max Whitten.
p. cm.-(Springer series in experimental entomology)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-387-97814-3 (U.S.).-ISBN 3-540-97814-3 (German)
1. Molecular entomology. 2. Molecular genetics. 3. Insect pests
Control-Molecular aspects. I. Oakeshott, John. II. Whitten, Max. III. Series.
QL493.5.M65 1992
595.7'088-dc20 92-5035
Printed on acid-free paper.
© 1993 Springer-Verlag New York Inc. Copyright is not claimed for U.S. Government
employees.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1s t edition 1993
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987654321
ISBN-13: 978-1-4613-9219-4 e-ISBN-13: 978-1-4613-9217-0
DOl: 10.1007/978-1-4613-9217-0
Series Preface
Insects as a group occupy a middle ground in the biosphere between
bacteria and viruses at one extreme, amphibians and mammals at the
other. The size and general nature of insects present special problems to
the study of entomology. For example, many commercially available
instruments are geared to measure in grams, while the forces commonly
encountered in studying insects are in the milligram range. Therefore,
techniques developed in the study of insects or in those fields concerned
with the control of insect pests are often unique.
Methods for measuring things are common to all sciences. Advances
sometimes depend more on how something was done than on what was
measured; indeed a given field often progresses from one technique to
another as new methods are discovered, developed, and modified. Just
as often, some of these techniques find their way into the classroom
when the problems involved have been sufficiently ironed out to permit
students to master the manipulations in a few laboratory periods.
Many specialized techniques are confined to one specific research
laboratory. Although methods may be considered commonplace where
they are used, in another context even the simplest procedures may save
considerable time. It is the purpose of this series (1) to report new
developments in methodology, (2) to reveal sources of groups who
have dealt with and solved particular entomological problems, and (3)
to describe experiments which may be applicable for use in biology
laboratory courses.
THOMAS A. MILLER
Series Editor
v
Preface
The advent of molecular biology in the mid-70s prompted a rash of brave
promises about its ability to solve basic issues in other disciplines.
Resources and personnel were lavished on this field because of these
promises, yet nearly two decades later many of the promises remain
unfulfilled. It therefore behooves current protagonists to argue their case
with particular caution. This volume argues such a case for molecular
entomology. Molecular biology is not presented as a universal panacea
and its limitations are addressed explicitly. Nevertheless, it is shown that
when coupled with complementary approaches from the more traditional
disciplines, it can contribute new and unique insights into enduring prob
lems in entomology.
Much of the progress thus far in molecular entomology has been
confined to Drosophila, because the first generation of molecular tech
nologies was most easily applied to organisms with good classical genetics
and cytology, and the molecular work on Drosophila has emerged as one
area in which many of the brave early promises have been fulfilled. D.
melanogaster has become the model for understanding the molecular
regulation of embryonic development, and seminal molecular studies
exploiting this species have emerged in areas as diverse as popUlation
genetics and behavior.
Nevertheless, there are two reasons for expecting that the scope of
molecular entomology can now be extended to nondrosophilids. The first
is that the very success of the Drosophila work has generated a superb
paradigm to guide the work on other insects. The second is that the
increased power and sophistication of the later generations of molecular
Vll
viii Preface
technologies has to some extent overcome the need to restrict their use to
model species with good classical genetics.
We therefore believe it is timely to devote a volume in the series on
experimental entomology to detailed consideration of the prospects for
molecular entomology. We have tried not to produce a technical manual;
there are many such already available. Further, we have endeavored to
minimize the use of technical jargon; the mere language of molecular
biology, and for that matter Drosophila genetics, can bar access to
the field by non practitioners. Rather, we have aimed to illustrate to
nondrosophilid entomologists the areas of their field in which molecular
biology can now make a contribution. Conversely, too, we hope we can
alert the (Drosophila) molecular biologists to some of the fascinating
problems and opportunities in other areas of entomology that their own
discipline can now address.
We begin with a chapter by ffrench-Constant, Roush, and Carino that
brings Drosophila genetics and molecular biology to bear on what has
been the major issue in applied entomology over the last 50 years, namely
resistance to chemical pesticides. Genes involved in many of the major
resistance mechanisms have been cloned recently from Drosophila,
and ffrench-Constant and colleagues show how these clones can now be
exploited to establish some generalities about the molecular bases of
resistance. Beyond their considerable heuristic interest, these insights
may throw up new strategies for managing resistance problems. This first
chapter is recommended reading not only for its insights into resistance
mechanisms but also for its simple explanations of the basic genetic and
molecular technologies employed by drosophilists; it therefore serves
as valuable background for several later chapters that will focus on
Drosophila as a model for other phenomena.
Chapters Two through Four introduce some of the biotechnological
alternatives to chemical insecticides that are made possible by molecular
biology. Two such alternative approaches involve the genetic engineering
of insecticidal genes, either into microbial pathogens of pest insects or
into crop or pasture plants subject to pest attack. In Chapter Two,
Binnington and Baule show that the Bt gene encoding the delta-endotoxin
of Bacillus thuringiensis is but one of a wide array of insecticidal genes
that could prove useful in this respect. While genetic engineering is now
possible for a large and ever increasing number of plants, it is only
possible for a very small proportion of the microbial pathogens. One
group of pathogens that can be engineered at present is the baculoviruses,
and Chapter Three by Vlak discusses the prospects and problems associ
ated with engineering baculovirus insecticides. In Chapter Four, Christian
and colleagues discuss the prospects for engineering several other groups of
insect viruses. These authors also show how genes encoding the pathogenic
determinants of some insect viruses could themselves be genetically
engineered into plants.
Preface ix
The focus moves from applied to more fundamental issues in Chapters
Five and Six. Chapter Five, by Crozier, reviews the experimental and
analytical procedures available for using molecular characters in system
atics. Chapter Six, by Aquadro, shows how population data on molecular
characters are providing new insights into old questions concerning the
amount and adaptive significance of genetic polymorphism. Only limited
insect data were available to Crozier, while Aquadro deliberately confines
his attention to Drosophila, where the volume of data enables a con
solidated treatment of the various experimental and analytical procedures.
Nevertheless, it will be clear that the procedures espoused in these two
chapters can be translated readily to nondrosophilid insects.
Compared to those applicable to systematic and population issues,
many of the molecular techniques used to address questions in insect
physiology and cell biology are more sophisticated and not yet readily
applied to insects other than Drosophila. Nevertheless, these are the areas
in which Drosophila molecular biology has so far had its greatest impact.
We present select reviews of the remarkable advances that Drosophila
molecular biology has permitted in understanding insect differentia
tion (Chapter Seven, by Tearle and others), sex determination (Chapter
Eight, by Belote), diurnal rhythms (Chapter Nine, by Kyriacou), and
meiosis (Chapter Ten, by Lyttle, Wu, and Hawley). We do not cover
embryonic development because there are many excellent and accessible
reviews of that area already (for example Pankratz and JackIe, 1990,
Trends in Genetics 6:287-292, and Glover 1991, Trends in Genetics
7: 125-132). In time, issues in cell biology will become more accessible
to molecular approaches in other insects. In the meantime, however,
the generality of many of the principles emerging may be tested in
another invertebrate with good classical genetics, namely the Nematode
Caenorhabditis elegans. We refer interested readers to Wood (ed), 1988,
The Nematode Caenorhabditis eiegans, Cold Spring Harbor Lab., NY,
for an entree to C. elegans molecular biology.
What then are the prospects for carrying out the more sophisticated
molecular experiments on nondrosophilids? There have been perhaps two
critical limitations to date. One has been the much greater difficulty of
cloning genes from insects which lack good classical genetics. However,
this limitation is rapidly diminishing. In Chapter Eleven Trowell and
East summarize impressive recent progress in techniques in protein bio
chemistry that will greatly facilitate protein-based, rather than genetically
based, cloning strategies. On the other hand, the second limitation, the
lack of a genetic engineering technology for insects other than Drosophila,
may take longer to solve. An engineering technology is an important
research tool because the biological effects of cloned DNA, or manipu
lated versions of it, can only be fully assessed if it can be engineered
back into the organism from which it was isolated. In Chapter Twelve,
O'Brochta and Handler outline the prospects for developing engineering
x Preface
capability for nondrosophilids. There is no reason to doubt that it is an
achievable aim; there is no reason to think Drosophila is inherently more
amenable to engineering than other insects. Indeed, the pioneering work
of O'Brochta and his colleagues suggests that the aim will be achieved
relatively soon for some other dipterans. In keeping with the tenor
throughout the volume we make no promises, however there is certainly
good cause for optimism.
We thank all the authors who have contributed to this volume, first for
the high quality of their submissions, and second for their patience in
adapting submitted material to achieve overall coherence across chapters.
Finally, we thank Ms. Audra Ankers and Mr. Eric Hines for expert and
tireless editorial assistance.
CSIRO JOHN OAKESHOIT
Division of Entomology MAX J. WHIITEN
Contents
Series Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
Preface .................................................... Vll
Contributors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XIll
1. Drosophila as a Tool for Investigating the Molecular
Genetics of Insecticide Resistance
RICHARD H. FFRENCH-CONSTANT, RICHARD T. ROUSH, and
FLERIDA A. CARINO
With 2 Figures .......................................... 1
2. Naturally Occurring Insecticidal Molecules as Candidates
for Genetic Engineering
KEITH C. BINNINGTON and VALERIE J. BAULE ................ 38
3. Genetic Engineering of Baculoviruses for Insect Control
JUSTINUS M. VLAK
With 10 Figures ......................................... 90
4. Insect Viruses: New Strategies for Pest Control
PETER D. CHRISTIAN, TERRY N. HANZLIK, DAVID J. DALL,
and KARL H. GORDON
With 4 Figures .......................................... 128
5. Molecular Methods for Insect Phylogenetics
Ross H. CROZIER
With 4 Figures .......................................... 164
xi