Cardenas-Henao, H. | Search bioRxiv

bioRxiv2020

Decolonizing Psocopteran Systematics: Holarctic Lineages Cannot Inform Diversity and Evolution in Tropics

Despite tropical psocids comprise ~60% of species diversity within the Psocidae (Insecta, Psocodea), previous studies on the Psocidae phylogeny have poorly sampled tropical species (<40% species in trees). Here we discuss the evolution and systematics of the Psocidae based on the most comprehensive species-level sampling of the Psocidae. We sequenced and inferred the phylogenetic position of 43 previously unsampled Neotropical species from COI, H3, WNT, 18S, 16S, and 12S. Based on our phylogenies we found that Neotropical psocids are generally not closely related to morphologically similar taxa in the Holarctic region. Consequently, the monophyletic status for the major groups within Psocidae (subfamilies and tribes) is recovered only when Holarctic groups are sampled (7-10 of 11 higher-level groups are monophyletic) but violated when Neotropical species are included in the dataset (1 of 11 higher-level groups are monophyletic). Leveraging the largest phylogeny of the Psocidae, our study pinpoints the downfalls of simply extending taxonomic knowledge from lineages of a certain area to inform diversity and evolution of lineages in other regions. HighlightsO_LITropical psocids comprise >60% of the extant family richness C_LIO_LIPrevious phylogenies have undersampled Tropical psocids C_LIO_LIHolarctic and Neotropical species are classified under the same morphological groups C_LIO_LIHolarctic and Neotropical generally correspond to evolutionarily distinct lineages C_LIO_LIPhylogenies based on Holarctic psocids poorly inform evolution in the Neotropics C_LI

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2018

mtDNA recombination indicative of hybridization suggest a role of the mitogenome in the adaptation of reef building corals to extreme environments

mtDNA recombination following hybridization is rarely found in animals and was never until now reported in reef-building corals. Here we report unexpected topological incongruence among mitochondrial markers as evidence of mitochondrial introgression in the phylogenetic history of Stylophora species distributed along broad geographic ranges. Our analyses include specimens from the Indo-Pacific, the Indian Ocean and the full latitudinal (2000 km) and environmental gradient (21{degrees}C-33{degrees}C) of the Red Sea (N=827). The analysis of Stylophora lineages in the framework of the mitogenome phylogenies of the family Pocilloporidae, coupled with analyses of recombination, shows the first evidence of asymmetric patterns of introgressive hybridization associated to mitochondrial recombination in this genus. Hybridization likely occurred between an ancestral lineage restricted to the Red Sea/Gulf of Aden basins and migrants from the Indo-Pacific/Indian Ocean that reached the Gulf of Aden. The resulting hybrid lives in sympatry with the descendants of the parental Red Sea lineage, from which it inherited most of its mtDNA (except a highly variable recombinant region that includes the nd6, atp6, and mtORF genes) and expanded its range into the hottest region of the Arabian Gulf, where it is scarcely found. Noticeably, across the Red Sea both lineages exhibit striking differences in terms of phylogeographic patterns, clades-morphospecies association, and zooxanthellae composition. Our data suggest that the early colonization of the Red Sea by the ancestral lineage, which involved overcoming multiple habitat changes and extreme temperatures, resulted in changes in mitochondrial proteins, which led to its successful adaptation to the novel environmental conditions.

evolutionary biology↗