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Evidence for selective sweeps by W olbachia infections: phylogeny of A ltica leaf beetles and their reproductive parasites
Author(s) -
Jäckel Regina,
Mora Diana,
Dobler Susanne
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
molecular ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.619
H-Index - 225
eISSN - 1365-294X
pISSN - 0962-1083
DOI - 10.1111/mec.12389
Subject(s) - biology , wolbachia , phylogenetics , polyphyly , introgression , reproductive isolation , phylogenetic tree , sympatry , evolutionary biology , monophyly , zoology , sympatric speciation , genetics , host (biology) , gene , population , clade , demography , sociology
Infections with maternally inherited Wolbachia bacteria may have dramatic influences on reproductive traits and speciation patterns of their hosts. We here show that in the beetle genus Altica , infection has influenced phylogenetic patterns of the host's mtDNA and different strains led to repeated selective sweeps. By comparing a COI/II ‐based phylogeny of the hosts with a phylogeny of the bacteria based on ftsZ , we show that cospeciation is rare and restricted to few recently diverged species. While in general each species apparently harbours a single Wolbachia strain, Altica lythri presents a strikingly different pattern: in the polyphyletic species, three highly divergent mtDNA haplotypes (2.1–4.6% p‐distance) are coupled with three different Wolbachia strains ( wL ytA1, wL ytA2 and wL ytB). These haplotypes and Wolbachia strains are widely distributed and mostly found in sympatry. A phylogeny based on microsatellite data supports the monophyly of A. lythri . The discrepancy between mtDNA and nuclear phylogeny may best be explained by interspecific hybridization that led to introgression of mtDNA coupled with a different Wolbachia strain. Selective sweeps apparently drove the introgressed haplotypes to widespread distribution. As for effects of Wolbachia on reproduction, infection with wL ytA1 appears to be correlated with a substantial sex ratio distortion, which was most prominent in A. lythri .