Project Number: 1926-22000-017-07
Project Type: Nonfunded Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Jan 08, 2007
End Date: Sep 30, 2009

Objective:
Determine the number and location of quantitative trait loci affecting feeding on novel host plant species and to identify candidate genes associated with these quantitative trait loci. The likelihood that an herbivore will incorporate a novel host plant species in its host range depends on many factors, including the number of genes involved, how these genes interact with each other and the environment, and how much change in each gene is needed to alter host use.

Approach:
We will address the objectives with the generalist herbivore Heliothis virescens and the closely related specialist herbivore Heliothis subflexa (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). We will hybridize H. virescens and H. subflexa, backcross the female F1 progeny to H. subflexa and to H. virescens, and bioassay backcross progeny for ability to feed and grow on plants outside their normal host ranges. We will also select within each species for ability to use the novel host plant. We will use amplified fragment-length polymorphism (AFLP) markers to map quantitative trait loci (QTL) involved in use of the novel host plant.