Member of the DEEIT team
Phd student, Ecole doctorale « Sciences de la Nature et de l’Homme : évolution et écologie ». Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie (UPMC), Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (MNHM)
Thesis supervisor: B. Le Rü; Co-supervisor: L.Kaiser-Arnauld and F. Mougel
Research topic:
My scientific activity focuses on Cotesia typhae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), an African parasitoid. As this parasitoid appears to be strictly specialised on one host species Sesamia nonagrioides, it’s a good candidate to be used in a biological control program against this major pest-crop. We found that two Kenyan strains of C. typhae differed in their ability to reproduce in a French population of S. nonagrioides, a new host population for these strains.
The aim of my thesis is to identify the behavioural, physiological, ecological and genetic mechanisms responsible for this interpopulational differentiation of reproductive success.
Key words: parasitoid; reproductive success; QTL; RAD-seq; bracovirus; biological control
Phone: +33 1 69 82 37 33
Mail: romain.benoist@universite-paris-saclay.fr
Publications
Benoist, R., C. Chantre, C. Capdevielle-Dulac, M. Bodet, F. Mougel, P. A. Calatayud, S. Dupas, E. Huguet, R. Jeannette, J. Obonyo, C. Odorico, J. F. Silvain, B. Le Ru & L. Kaiser (2017a) Relationship between oviposition, virulence gene expression and parasitism success in Cotesia typhae nov sp parasitoid strains. Genetica, 145, 469-479. 10.1007/s10709-017-9987-5.
Kaiser, L., S. Dupas, A. Branca, E. A. Herniou, C. W. Clarke, C. C. Dulac, J. Obonyo, R. Benoist, J. Gauthier, P. A. Calatayud, J. F. Silvain & B. P. Le Ru (2017) The Cotesia sesamiae story: insight into host-range evolution in a Hymenoptera parasitoid and implication for its use in biological control programs. Genetica, 145, 455-468. 10.1007/s10709-017-9989-3.
Kaiser, L., J. Fernandez-Triana, C. Capdevielle-Dulac, C. Chantre, M. Bodet, F. Kaoula, R. Benoist, P.-A. Calatayud, S. Dupas, E. A. Herniou, R. Jeannette, J. Obonyo, J.-F. Silvain & B. Le Ru (2017) Systematics and biology of Cotesia typhae sp n. (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Microgastrinae), a potential biological control agent against the noctuid Mediterranean corn borer, Sesamia nonagrioides. Zookeys, 105-136. 10.3897/zookeys.682.13016.