Abstract

Purpose

Ionizing radiation is well known to have drastic impacts on major life history features including survivorship, growth, fertility, and longevity. What is much less appreciated is how radiation stress can cause changes to more subtle traits, such as those associated with sexual signaling, an underappreciated but vital aspect of insect reproduction. In the House Cricket (Acheta domesticus) cuticular hydrocarbons are vital for sex and species recognition, as well as a possible indicator of stress, making them crucial for successful mating and reproduction.

Materials and methods

Here, we analyze the impacts of ionizing radiation on the cuticular hydrocarbons of male crickets and its subsequent impacts on mating success. We exposed juvenile (14-day, 4th instar) male crickets to a broad range of radiation doses (2 Gy − 2 Gy).

Results

We detected significant changes in individual cuticular hydrocarbons across a broad range of doses in mature male crickets using gas-liquid chromatography. Specifically, dose was identified as a significant contributing factor to hydrocarbon increases p < .0001. Mating success was significantly reduced in 12 Gy (p < .0001), 10 Gy (0.0001), and 7 Gy (0.0060) groups compared to non-irradiated controls.

Conclusion

Insect chemical communication can be species specific, and functionally specialized. Here, we show that radiation can alter the chemical signals used to attract mates in a large bodied insect and this may be a contributing factor to the described reduction in male mating success. Further research should be conducted to further analyze the various modes of communication employed by male crickets to attract mates i.e. acoustic signaling, and how this may also contribute to the reduction in mating success seen in irradiated males.

中文翻译：

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电离辐射对雄性家蟋蟀 (Acheta Domesticus) 角质层碳氢化合物分布和交配成功率的影响

 抽象的

 目的

众所周知，电离辐射会对主要生命史特征产生巨大影响，包括生存、生长、生育力和寿命。很少有人意识到辐射应激如何导致更微妙的特征发生变化，例如与性信号相关的特征，性信号是昆虫繁殖的一个未被充分认识但至关重要的方面。在家蟋蟀（ Acheta Domesticus）中，表皮碳氢化合物对于性别和物种识别至关重要，并且可能是压力指标，这使得它们对于成功交配和繁殖至关重要。

 材料和方法

在这里，我们分析了电离辐射对雄性蟋蟀表皮碳氢化合物的影响及其对交配成功的后续影响。我们将幼年雄性蟋蟀（14 天，第 4 龄）暴露于各种辐射剂量（2 Gy – 2 Gy）下。

 结果

我们使用气液色谱法检测到成熟雄性蟋蟀在大剂量范围内个体表皮碳氢化合物的显着变化。具体而言，剂量被确定为碳氢化合物增加p < .0001 的一个重要影响因素。与未辐射对照组相比，12 Gy ( p < .0001)、10 Gy (0.0001) 和 7 Gy (0.0060) 组的交配成功率显着降低。

 结论

昆虫的化学通讯可以是物种特异性的，并且可以是功能专门化的。在这里，我们表明辐射可以改变大型昆虫用于吸引交配的化学信号，这可能是导致雄性交配成功率降低的一个因素。应该进行进一步的研究，以进一步分析雄性蟋蟀用来吸引配偶的各种交流方式，即声音信号，以及这如何导致受辐射的雄性蟋蟀交配成功率的降低。