Herbivore range expansion triggers adaptation in a subsequently-associated third trophic level species and shared microbial symbionts

Fushi Ke,Geoff M Gurr,Weijun Chen,Liette Vasseur,Dandan Xie,Tiansheng Liu,Weiyi He,Sumei Huang,Minsheng You,Qiang Li,Shijun You,Xijian Lin

doi:10.1038/s41598-019-46742-3

Fushi Ke, Geoff M Gurr + Show 10 more

Open Access

PDF Available

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-46742-3

Copy DOI

Export

Save

Cite

Abstract
Highlights/Summary
Full-Text PDF
Similar Papers

Abstract

Listen

Invasive species may change the life history strategies, distribution, genetic configuration and trophic interactions of native species. The diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella L., is an invasive herbivore attacking cultivated and wild brassica plants worldwide. Here we present phylogeographic analyses of P. xylostella and one of its major parasitoids, Cotesia vestalis, using mitochondrial markers, revealing the genetic diversity and evolutionary history of these two species. We find evidence that C. vestalis originated in Southwest China, then adapted to P. xylostella as a new host by ecological sorting as P. xylostella expanded its geographic range into this region. Associated with the expansion of P. xylostella, Wolbachia symbionts were introduced into local populations of the parasitoid through horizontal transfer from its newly associated host. Insights into the evolutionary history and phylogeographic system of the herbivore and its parasitoid provide an important basis for better understanding the impacts of biological invasion on genetic configuration of local species.

Highlights

Human activities and climate change have allowed many plant and animal species to recently expand their geographic ranges, a phenomenon likely to continue despite increasing quarantine efforts[1]
Nucleotide diversity was overall low with an average of 0.329%, except for the samples from three locations of Quanzhou in China (FJQZ, 0.606%), Cameron Highlands in Malaysia (MLCH, 0.906%) and Katmandu in Nepal (NPKT, 0.682%) (Table 1)
The paraphyly nature of samples from Southwest China, located at the early branching nodes of both c3m-based (Fig. 2a) and CoxI-based (Fig. 2c) phylogeny, suggests that Southwest China is the geographical origin of C. vestalis

Summary

Introduction

Human activities and climate change have allowed many plant and animal species to recently expand their geographic ranges, a phenomenon likely to continue despite increasing quarantine efforts[1]. (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae), is a brassica-specialist herbivore of global significance[9,10,11,12] It has achieved wide distribution across the world (i.e. East Asia and Oceania) in recent centuries, most likely due to human activities, such as globalization of trade and brassica crop cultivation[10,13,14]. C. vestalis is reported to be among the most predominant parasitoids of P. xylostella across parts of East Asia[25,26,27], most likely associated to its tolerance to high temperatures[28] and insecticides[25,26], and suggesting it may be native to this region. Wolbachia are generally assumed to be maternally inheritable, with vertical transfer from egg cytoplasm to offspring, though recent studies have demonstrated horizontal transfer from infected to uninfected species[32]

Methods

Results

Conclusion