Viability and behaviour of translocations that suppress female recombination in the Mediterranean fruit fly,Ceratitis capitata (Wied.)

Summary The viability of a series of recombination suppressor (RS) strains in Ceratitis capitata, all previously found to contain a reciprocal autosomal translocation, was assessed for egg hatchability and adult emergence in both the homozygous and heterozygous state. Except in T 30C, which contains a Y-autosome translocation in addition to the A-A translocation, egg hatch was significantly reduced in all heterozygous translocation strains, and ranged from 42.4% to 58.5% in seeded eggs compared to a control value of 82.8%. Adult emergence from hatched eggs was affected to a lesser extent, but with a range of 59.5% to 84.2%, compared to the control value of 83.1%, remained significantly reduced in 4 of the 6 translocation strains, as well as in the male line of T 30C. In the homozygous configuration all strains, except T 19 and T 109, showed a significant reduction in egg hatchability, whereas adult emergence was not adversely affected. A significant reduction in the egg hatchability of the translocation heterozygotes compared to that of the homozygotes was observed in 5 of the 7 strains, the observed reduction in T 55/109 being non-significant while that of T 30C was significantly increased. The behaviour of translocations as recombination suppressors and their suitability for inclusion in breeding schemes for the isolation of induced recessive mutations is discussed.This work forms part of a Joint FAO/IAEA research programme on the development of genetic sexing mechanisms for the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wied.)