Kawaguchi, L. | bioRxiv Science

bioRxiv2021

Microevolution of Pieris butterfly genes involved in host-plant adaptation along a host-plant community cline

Herbivorous insects have evolved counteradaptations to overcome the chemical defenses of their host plants. Several of these counteradaptations have been elucidated at the molecular level, in particular for insects specialized on cruciferous host plants. While the importance of these counteradaptations for host plant colonization is well established,little is known about their microevolutionary dynamics in the field. In this study, we examine patterns of host plant use and insect counteradaptation in three Pieris butterfly species across Japan. The larvae of these butterflies express nitrile-specifier protein (NSP) and its paralog major allergen (MA) in their gut to overcome the highly diversified glucosinolate-myrosinase defense system of their cruciferous host plants. Pieris napi and Pieris melete colonize wild Brassicaceae whereas Pieris rapae typically uses cultivated Brassica as a host, regardless of the local composition of wild crucifers. As expected, NSP and MA diversity was independent of the local composition of wild Brassicaceae in P. rapae. In contrast, NSP diversity correlated with local host plant diversity in both species that preferred wild Brassicaceae. P. melete and P. napi both revealed two distinct major NSP alleles, which shaped diversity among local populations, albeit with different evolutionary trajectories. In comparison, MA showed no indication for local adaptation. Altogether, MA appeared to be evolutionary more conserved than NSP, suggesting that both genes play different roles in diverting host plant chemical defense.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2020

Geographic and subsequent biotic isolations led to a diversity anomaly of Heterotropa (Aristolochiaceae) in insular versus continental regions of the Sino-Japanese Floristic Region

The Sino-Japanese Floristic Region is highly diverse with respect to temperate plants. However, the reasons for this diversity are poorly understood because most studies have only considered geographic isolation caused by climatic oscillations. Heterotropa (genus Asarum; Aristolochiaceae) diverges here and shows high species diversity in insular systems (63 species) compared to continental areas (25 species). Heterotropa shows low dispersal ability with small distribution ranges, implying diversification by geographic events, and high floral diversity, implying pollinator-mediated diversification. To reveal how abiotic and biotic factors have shaped the diversity anomaly of Heterotropa, we conducted phylogenetic analysis using ddRAD-seq and chloroplast genome datasets including 79 species, estimation of floral trait evolution, and comparison of isolation factors within clades based on distribution range and floral trait analysis. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that Heterotropa originated in mainland China and expanded to the Japanese Archipelago in the Miocene, and the major clades almost correspond to geographic distributions. Floral traits evolved repeatedly in the tip nodes within the clades. Although the major clades include a high proportion of species pairs showing isolation by floral traits, there are no conditional relationships between two isolation factors, indicating that most species pairs with floral trait isolation are distributed allopatrically. The repeated exposure and submergence of land-bridges caused by climatic oscillations would have led to significant population fragmentation in insular systems. Thus, the diversity anomaly of Heterotropa would have resulted from geographic and climatic events during the Miocene, while subsequent repeated floral trait evolution would have followed geographic isolation during the Pleistocene.

plant biology↗