Quantitative trait locus analysis of parasitoid counteradaptation to symbiont-conferred resistance

Insect hosts and parasitoids are engaged in an intense struggle of antagonistic coevolution. Infection with heritable bacterial endosymbionts can substantially increase the resistance of aphids to parasitoid wasps, which exerts selection on parasitoids to overcome this symbiont-conferred protection (counteradaptation). Experimental evolution in the laboratory has produced counteradapted populations of the parasitoid wasp Lysiphlebus fabarum. These populations can parasitize black bean aphids (Aphis fabae) protected by the bacterial endosymbiont Hamiltonella defensa, which confers high resistance against L. fabarum. We used two experimentally evolved parasitoid populations to study the genetic architecture of the counteradaptation to symbiont-conferred resistance by QTL analysis. With simple crossing experiments, we showed that the counteradaptation is a recessive trait depending on the maternal genotype. Based on these results, we designed a customized crossing scheme to genotype a mapping population phenotyped for the ability to parasitize Hamiltonella-protected aphids. Using 1835 SNP markers obtained by ddRAD sequencing, we constructed a high-density linkage map consisting of six linkage groups (LGs) with an overall length of 828.3 cM and an average marker spacing of 0.45 cM. We identified a single QTL associated with the counteradaptation to Hamiltonella in L. fabarum on linkage group 2. Out of 120 genes located in this QTL, several genes encoding putative venoms may represent candidates for counteradaptation, as parasitoid wasps inject venoms into their hosts during oviposition.