Aphidius ervi Transcriptome sequencing

The molecular mechanisms that allow generalist parasitoids to exploit many, often very distinct hosts, are practically unknown. The parasitoid wasp Aphidius ervi, a generalist koinobiont parasitoid of aphids, was introduced from Europe into Chile in the late 1970ies to control agriculturally important aphid species. A recent study showed significant differences in host preference and host acceptance (infectivity) depending on the host A. ervi were reared on. In contrast, population genetic studies found no genetic differentiation between A. ervi parasitizing different aphid species and aphids of the same species reared on different host plants in Chile. However, this study did not find any fitness effects if hosts were switched.We determined the effect of aphid host species (Sitobion avenae versus two races of Acyrthosiphon pisum) on the transcriptome of adult A. ervi females.