Genetic Linkage Analysis of the Lesser Grain Borer Rhyzopertha dominica Identifies Two Loci That Confer High-Level Resistance to the Fumigant Phosphine

Corresponding author: Paul R. Ebert, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland, Australia, 4072., ebert{at}biosci.uq.edu.au (E-mail)

Communicating editor: G. A. CHURCHILL

High levels of inheritable resistance to phosphine in Rhyzopertha dominica have recently been detected in Australia and in an effort to isolate the genes responsible for resistance we have used random amplified DNA fingerprinting (RAF) to produce a genetic linkage map of R. dominica. The map consists of 94 dominant DNA markers with an average distance between markers of 4.6 cM and defines nine linkage groups with a total recombination distance of 390.1 cM. We have identified two loci that are responsible for high-level resistance. One provides 50x resistance to phosphine while the other provides 12.5x resistance and in combination, the two genes act synergistically to provide a resistance level 250x greater than that of fully susceptible beetles. The haploid genome size has been determined to be 4.76 x 10⁸ bp, resulting in an average physical distance of 1.2 Mbp per map unit. No recombination has been observed between either of the two resistance loci and their adjacent DNA markers in a population of 44 fully resistant F₅ individuals, which indicates that the genes are likely to reside within 0.91 cM (1.1 Mbp) of the DNA markers.

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