Journal of Undergraduate Research
Keywords
inbreeding, fecundity, heat tolerance, heterorhabditis bacteriophora
College
Life Sciences
Department
Microbiology and Molecular Biology
Abstract
Biological control using predators, parasitoids, or pathogens can be an effective alternative to the use of chemical pesticides for management of insect pests because the agents of biological control are generally not harmful to humans, the environment, or non-target organisms (1). One problem with using biological control agents, however, is that their success in suppressing pest populations often depends on fitness, including ecological compatibility with the pest, searching and dispersal capacity, and reproductive capacity (1). When mass-produced for commercial purposes the agent may lose these biocontrol traits from genetic processes including drift, inbreeding, or inadvertent selection (4) or from non-genetic factors such as poor nutrition and disease (4). My ORCA proposal described how I would fill a role in a collaborative project that intended to elucidate whether fitness deterioration is tied to genetic processes in traits important for biological control; our model organism for this study was the entomopathogenic nematode.
Recommended Citation
Chaston, John and Adams, Dr. Byron J.
(2013)
"Effects of Inbreeding on the Fecundity and Heat Tolerance of Heterorhabditis bacteriophora,"
Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2013:
Iss.
1, Article 1230.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2013/iss1/1230