Abstract
Adaptation to different environments can result in reproductive isolation between populations and the formation of new species. Food resources are among the most important environmental factors shaping local adaptation. The chemosensory system, the most ubiquitous sensory channel in the animal kingdom, not only detects food resources and their chemical composition, but also mediates sexual communication and reproductive isolation in many taxa. Chemosensory divergence may thus play a crucial role in resource-mediated adaptation and speciation. Understanding how the chemosensory system can facilitate resource-mediated ecological speciation requires integrating mechanistic studies of the chemosensory system with ecological studies, to link the genetics and physiology of chemosensory properties to divergent adaptation. In this review, we use examples of insect research to present seven key questions that can be used to understand how the chemosensory system can facilitate resource-mediated ecological speciation in consumer populations.
Highlights
Ecological speciation has been recognized as a major mechanism in generating biodiversity (Rundle and Nosil, 2005; Schluter, 2009; Nosil, 2012)
For each of the seven questions, major insights have been generated using various taxa and approaches, documenting the critical resource properties that drive chemosensory adaptations in consumers, the molecular basis of these adaptations and the characterization of the behavioral responses that contribute to reproductive isolation
Different approaches are needed for different questions: we need field ecology and chemical analyses to characterize environmental heterogeneity and its effects on consumer populations, neurobiology and physiology to examine how individuals detect and exploit food resources, developmental biology and genetics to assess the molecular basis of these traits, behavioral observation to document mechanisms underlying reproductive isolation, and evolutionary biology to link selective regimes to evolutionary change
Summary
Ecological speciation has been recognized as a major mechanism in generating biodiversity (Rundle and Nosil, 2005; Schluter, 2009; Nosil, 2012). Populations occurring in heterogeneous environments may experience divergent selection, resulting in reduced gene flow, which may eventually lead to the evolution of distinct species (Rundle and Nosil, 2005; Schluter, 2009; Nosil, 2012). Classical examples of ecological speciation in animals include the Darwin’s finches on the Galapagos islands, three-spined sticklebacks in limnetic or benthic habitats and host-plant races in herbivorous insects (reviewed in Schluter, 2009; Nosil, 2012). We focus on insects, as they provide several model systems at the forefront of ecological speciation research and present striking evidence of speciation driven by host plant heterogeneity (Matsubayashi et al, 2010). The insect chemosensory system has been explored using state-of-the-art methods in the Drosophila genus for several decades, providing valuable examples on how insects adapt to their chemical environment
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