Abstract
In southern China, the masson pine caterpillar, Dendrolimus punctatus, has caused serious damage to the Pinus massoniana (Lamb.) pine forests. Here, the whole mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was employed to analyze the population evolution of D. punctatus and to understand the process underlying its current phylogenetic pattern. D. punctatus populations within its distribution range in China were categorized into five subgroups: central and eastern China (CEC), southwestern China (SWC), Yibin in Sichuan (SC), Baise in Guangxi (GX), and Luoding in Guangdong (GD), with a high level of haplotype diversity and nucleotide diversity among them. The genetic distances between subgroups are relatively large; however, the genetic distances between populations within the CEC subgroup were relatively small, suggesting that many populations were closely related in this subgroup. The mantel test showed that geographic distance had an important impact on the genetic distance of different geographic populations (r = 0.3633, P < 0.001). The neutrality tests, Bayesian skyline plot, and haplotype network showed that D. punctatus experienced a population expansion around 100,000 years ago. The divergence times of GX/SC, SWC, GD, and CEC were 0.347, 0.236, 0.200, and 0.110 million years ago, respectively. The SWC, CEC, and GD subgroups might have evolved from GX or SC subgroups. The population genetic structure of D. punctatus was closely related to its host tree species, geographic distance among populations, the weak flight capacity, and many eco-environment conditions.
Highlights
The masson pine caterpillar moth, Dendrolimus punctatus Walker (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae), is the most destructive insect pest among the >27 pine caterpillar species in China, causing tremendous economic damage annually to the pine forests, especially the P. massoniana Lamb. forests in southern China
Except for Hunan Dongan (HNDA), Jiangxi Yudu (JXYD), and Guangxi Baise (GXBS) populations, the index of nucleotide diversity and mean number of nucleotide differences in the left populations were less than the corresponding values of the total populations
Our results showed that the nucleotide diversity (Hd) of D. punctatus populations was 0.0107, similar to the results of an individual population obtained via the Cyt b gene analysis (Pi = 0.0145) (Gao et al, 2008) with a high-level haplotype diversity and genetic diversity
Summary
The masson pine caterpillar moth, Dendrolimus punctatus Walker (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae), is the most destructive insect pest among the >27 pine caterpillar species in China, causing tremendous economic damage annually to the pine forests, especially the P. massoniana Lamb. forests in southern China. The masson pine caterpillar moth, Dendrolimus punctatus Walker (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae), is the most destructive insect pest among the >27 pine caterpillar species in China, causing tremendous economic damage annually to the pine forests, especially the P. massoniana Lamb. The moth larvae often feed on Geographic Evolutionary Trends of D. Punctatus conifer needles from February through October depending on their populations, with frequent widespread outbreaks occurring every 4~5 years, During a severe outbreak, an entire pine forest can be completely defoliated by D. punctatus larvae within several days, creating a scene of so called “smokeless forest fire” (Xiao et al, 1964; Zhang et al, 2004a). It is necessary and beneficial to study the evolutionary trends of different D. punctatus populations in order to identify their distribution characteristics and to develop efficient pest control measures targeting different populations of this economically important insect pest
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