Dataset Information

Genetic and morphological variation in sexual and asexual parasitoids of the genus Lysiphlebus - an apparent link between wing shape and reproductive mode.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Morphological divergence often increases with phylogenetic distance, thus making morphology taxonomically informative. However, transitions to asexual reproduction may complicate this relationship because asexual lineages capture and freeze parts of the phenotypic variation of the sexual populations from which they derive. Parasitoid wasps belonging to the genus Lysiphlebus Foerster (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) are composed of over 20 species that exploit over a hundred species of aphid hosts, including many important agricultural pests. Within Lysiphlebus, two genetically and morphologically well-defined species groups are recognised: the "fabarum" and the "testaceipes" groups. Yet within each group, sexual as well as asexual lineages occur, and in L. fabarum different morphs of unknown origin and status have been recognised. In this study, we selected a broad sample of specimens from the genus Lysiphlebus to explore the relationship between genetic divergence, reproductive mode and morphological variation in wing size and shape (quantified by geometric morphometrics). RESULTS:The analyses of mitochondrial and nuclear gene sequences revealed a clear separation between the "testaceipes" and "fabarum" groups of Lysiphlebus, as well as three well-defined phylogenetic lineages within the "fabarum" species group and two lineages within the "testaceipes" group. Divergence in wing shape was concordant with the deep split between the "testaceipes" and "fabarum" species groups, but within groups no clear association between genetic divergence and wing shape variation was observed. On the other hand, we found significant and consistent differences in the shape of the wing between sexual and asexual lineages, even when they were closely related. CONCLUSIONS:Mapping wing shape data onto an independently derived molecular phylogeny of Lysiphlebus revealed an association between genetic and morphological divergence only for the deepest phylogenetic split. In more recently diverged taxa, much of the variation in wing shape was explained by differences between sexual and asexual lineages, suggesting a mechanistic link between wing shape and reproductive mode in these parasitoid wasps.

SUBMITTER: Petrovic A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4332431 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Genetic and morphological variation in sexual and asexual parasitoids of the genus Lysiphlebus - an apparent link between wing shape and reproductive mode.

Petrović Andjeljko A Mitrović Milana M Ivanović Ana A Žikić Vladimir V Kavallieratos Nickolas G NG Kavallieratos Nickolas G NG Starý Petr P Bogdanović Ana Mitrovski AM Tomanović Željko Ž Vorburger Christoph C

BMC evolutionary biology 20150204

<h4>Background</h4>Morphological divergence often increases with phylogenetic distance, thus making morphology taxonomically informative. However, transitions to asexual reproduction may complicate this relationship because asexual lineages capture and freeze parts of the phenotypic variation of the sexual populations from which they derive. Parasitoid wasps belonging to the genus Lysiphlebus Foerster (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) are composed of over 20 species that exploit over a hundr ...[more]

PMID: 25887731

Similar Datasets

Project description:BACKGROUND:The Lysiphlebus fabarum group is a taxonomically poorly resolved complex of aphid parasitoids, presently split into three described species that comprise sexual (arrhenotokous) and asexual (thelytokous) lineages of unknown relationship. Specifically, it is unclear how asexuals evolved from sexuals in this system, to what extent reproductive modes are still connected by genetic exchange, how much the complex is structured by geography or by host-associated differentiation, and whether species designations are valid. Using a combination of population genetic and phylogenetic approaches, we addressed these issues in a comprehensive sample of parasitoid wasps from across Europe. RESULTS:Asexual reproduction predominated in parasitoids of the L. fabarum group, with asexual populations exhibiting high genotypic diversity. Sexual populations were only common in southern France; elsewhere sexual reproduction was restricted to specific aphid hosts. Although reproductive modes were aggregated on the mitochondrial genealogy and significantly differentiated at nuclear microsatellite loci, there was clear evidence for genetic exchange, especially on hosts attacked by sexual and asexual parasitoids. The microsatellite data further revealed that parasitoids collected from certain host aphids were significantly differentiated, yet the mitochondrial sequence variation across the entire L. fabarum group did not exceed 1.32% and exhibited a very shallow topology. Morphological characters used for delineation of described species were found to be phylogenetically non-conservative. CONCLUSIONS:Our results suggest that the sexual-asexual L. fabarum group represents a young complex of lineages with incomplete isolation between reproductive modes. We propose three mechanisms of genetic exchange that may jointly explain the high genotypic diversity observed in asexual parasitoids: (i) the formation of new asexual lineages via 'contagious parthenogenesis', (ii) introgression from sexual lineages through matings between sexual males and thelytokous females, and (iii) 'cryptic sex' within asexuals, mediated by rare males that thelytokous lines are known to produce spontaneously. The partially strong differentiation among wasps collected from different aphids suggests that host specialization can evolve readily in these parasitoids. Finally, we conclude that in the light of our data, the current taxonomic division of the L. fabarum group into three species cannot be upheld.

Project description:BackgroundThe Drosophila wing represents a particularly appropriate model to investigate the developmental control of phenotypic variation. Previous studies which aimed to identify candidate genes for wing morphology demonstrated that the genetic basis of wing shape variation in D. melanogaster is composed of numerous genetic factors causing small, additive effects. In this study, we analyzed wing shape in males and females from 191 lines of D. melanogaster, homozygous for a single P-element insertion, using geometric morphometrics techniques. The analysis allowed us to identify known and novel candidate genes that may contribute to the expression of wing shape in each sex separately and to compare them to candidate genes affecting wing size which have been identified previously using the same lines.ResultsOur results indicate that more than 63% of induced mutations affected wing shape in one or both sexes, although only 33% showed significant differences in both males and females. The joint analysis of wing size and shape revealed that only 19% of the P-element insertions caused coincident effects on both components of wing form in one or both sexes. Further morphometrical analyses revealed that the intersection between veins showed the smallest displacements in the proximal region of the wing. Finally, we observed that mutations causing general deformations were more common than expected in both sexes whereas the opposite occurred with those generating local changes. For most of the 94 candidate genes identified, this seems to be the first record relating them with wing shape variation.ConclusionsOur results support the idea that the genetic architecture of wing shape is complex with many different genes contributing to the trait in a sexually dimorphic manner. This polygenic basis, which is relatively independent from that of wing size, is composed of genes generally involved in development and/or metabolic functions, especially related to the regulation of different cellular processes such as motility, adhesion, communication and signal transduction. This study suggests that understanding the genetic basis of wing shape requires merging the regulation of vein patterning by signalling pathways with processes that occur during wing development at the cellular level.

Project description:Sexual reproduction is a widely studied biological process because it is critically important to the genetics, evolution, and ecology of eukaryotes. Despite decades of study on this topic, no comprehensive explanation has been accepted that explains the evolutionary forces underlying its prevalence and persistence in nature. Monogonont rotifers offer a useful system for experimental studies relating to the evolution of sexual reproduction due to their rapid reproductive rate and close relationship to the putatively ancient asexual bdelloid rotifers. However, little is known about the molecular underpinnings of sex in any rotifer species.We generated mRNA-seq libraries for obligate parthenogenetic (OP) and cyclical parthenogenetic (CP) strains of the monogonont rotifer, Brachionus calyciflorus, to identify genes specific to both modes of reproduction. Our differential expression analysis identified receptors with putative roles in signaling pathways responsible for the transition from asexual to sexual reproduction. Differential expression of a specific copy of the duplicated cell cycle regulatory gene CDC20 and specific copies of histone H2A suggest that such duplications may underlie the phenotypic plasticity required for reproductive mode switch in monogononts. We further identified differential expression of genes involved in the formation of resting eggs, a process linked exclusively to sex in this species. Finally, we identified transcripts from the bdelloid rotifer Adineta ricciae that have significant sequence similarity to genes with higher expression in CP strains of B. calyciflorus.Our analysis of global gene expression differences between facultatively sexual and exclusively asexual populations of B. calyciflorus provides insights into the molecular nature of sexual reproduction in rotifers. Furthermore, our results offer insight into the evolution of obligate asexuality in bdelloid rotifers and provide indicators important for the use of monogononts as a model system for investigating the evolution of sexual reproduction.

Dataset Information

Genetic and morphological variation in sexual and asexual parasitoids of the genus Lysiphlebus - an apparent link between wing shape and reproductive mode.

Publications

Genetic and morphological variation in sexual and asexual parasitoids of the genus Lysiphlebus - an apparent link between wing shape and reproductive mode.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets