It is thought that speciation in phytophagous insects is often due to colonization of novel host plants, because radiations of plant and insect lineages are typically asynchronous. Recent phylogenetic comparisons have supported this model of diversification for both insect herbivores and specialized pollinators. An exceptional case where contemporaneous plant–insect diversification might be expected is the obligate mutualism between fig trees (Ficus species, Moraceae) and their pollinating wasps (Agaonidae, Hymenoptera). The ubiquity and ecological significance of this mutualism in tropical and subtropical ecosystems has long intrigued biologists, but the systematic challenge posed by >750 interacting species pairs has hindered progress toward understanding its evolutionary history. In particular, taxon sampling and analytical tools have been insufficient for large-scale cophylogenetic analyses. Here, we sampled nearly 200 interacting pairs of fig and wasp species from across the globe. Two supermatrices were assembled: on an average, wasps had sequences from 77% of 6 genes (5.6 kb), figs had sequences from 60% of 5 genes (5.5 kb), and overall 850 new DNA sequences were generated for this study. We also developed a new analytical tool, Jane 2, for event-based phylogenetic reconciliation analysis of very large data sets. Separate Bayesian phylogenetic analyses for figs and fig wasps under relaxed molecular clock assumptions indicate Cretaceous diversification of crown groups and contemporaneous divergence for nearly half of all fig and pollinator lineages. Event-based cophylogenetic analyses further support the codiversification hypothesis. Biogeographic analyses indicate that the present-day distribution of fig and pollinator lineages is consistent with a Eurasian origin and subsequent dispersal, rather than with Gondwanan vicariance. Overall, our findings indicate that the fig-pollinator mutualism represents an extreme case among plant–insect interactions of coordinated dispersal and long-term codiversification. [Biogeography; coevolution; cospeciation; host switching; long-branch attraction; phylogeny.]

We propose a general theory of clonal reproduction for parasitic protozoa, which has important medical and biological consequences. Many parasitic protozoa have been assumed to reproduce sexually, because of diploidy and occasional sexuality in the laboratory. However, a population genetic analysis of extensive data on biochemical polymorphisms indicates that the two fundamental consequences of sexual reproduction (i.e., segregation and recombination) are apparently rare or absent in natural populations of the parasitic protozoa. Moreover, the clones recorded appear to be stable over large geographical areas and long periods of time.

Nucleotide sequences from the cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene were used to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships among 15 genera of ¢g-pollinating wasps. We present evidence supporting broad-level cocladogenesis with respect to most but not all of the corresponding groups of ¢gs. Using fossil evidence for calibrating a molecular clock for these data, we estimated the origin of the ¢g^wasp mutualism to have occurred ca. 90 million years ago. The estimated divergence times among the pollinator genera and their current geographical distributions corresponded well with several features of the break-up of the southern continents during the Late Cretaceous period. We then explored the evolutionary trajectories of two characteristics that hold profound consequences for both partners in the mutualism: the breeding system of the host (monoecious or dioecious) and pollination behaviour of the wasp (passive or active). The ¢gŵ asp mutualism exhibits extraordinarily long-term evolutionary stability despite clearly identi¢able con£icts of interest between the interactors, which are re£ected by the very distinct variations found on the basic mutualistic theme.

We argue that the mode of reproduction of microorganisms in nature can only be decided by population genetic information. The evidence available indicates that many parasitic protozoa and unicellular fungi have clonal rather than sexual population structures, which has major consequences for medical research and practice. Plasmodium falciparum, the agent of malaria, is a special case: the scarce evidence available is contradictory, some suggesting that uniparental lineages may exist in nature. This is puzzling (because P. falciparum is known to have a sexual stage) and poses a challenge that can be readily settled by ascertaining the frequency distribution of genotypes in natural populations.Sexual reproduction is generally assumed to be a common mode of reproduction of eukaryotes. In the case of parasitic protozoa, the assumption of sexual reproduction relies largely on the presumption that these organisms are diploid, as well as on the occurrence of sexual recombination in the laboratory under appropriate circumstances (review in ref. 1), rather than on relevant evidence obtained from nature. Yet, whether or not sexual reproduction prevails in these organisms is of considerable medical and agronomic consequence as well as of scientific interest. These eukaryotic microorganisms include the agents of malaria, sleeping sickness, Chagas disease, and other parasitic diseases that affect more than 10% of the world population. The strategies for developing vaccines or curative drugs as well as for diagnosis and treatment are different for clonal and for sexual organisms.That sexual reproduction may occur in laboratory cultures or even occasionally in nature does not by itself settle the issue, since that simply manifests that the potentiality for sexual reproduction has not been lost. What remains to be determined is the prevailing mode of reproduction of these organisms in natural circumstances. The evidence to settle the matter exists for some of these organisms and could be obtained for others without massive investment of resources or new scientific or medical advances. We herein advance a sustained argument to show that population genetic evidence and population genetic theory is all that is needed to ascertain the extent to which, if at all, these (or any other) organisms reproduce sexually in nature. We have already reviewed the evidence for Trypanosoma cruzi, the agent of Chagas disease (2), and some other protozoa (3). Here we develop further the argument and present the results of a survey of the available evidence for parasitic protozoa and unicellular fungi. CLONALITY IN MICROBIAL EUKARIOTESThe two genetic consequences of sexual reproduction are segregation and recombination. Population genetic methods make it possible to ascertain whether or not the distribution of genotypes in natural populations is consistent with the occurrence of segregation and recombination. The kind of evidence that is needed is the frequency distribution ofgenotypes rather than the direct observation of sexual or clonal r...

The over 700 species of Ficus are thought to have co-speciated with their obligate pollinators (family Agaonidae). Some of these wasp species pollinate figs actively, while others are passive pollinators. Based on direct observations of mode of pollination in 88 species, we show that mode of pollination can confidently be predicted from fig traits only (anther-to-ovule ratio) or from wasp traits only (presence of coxal combs). The presence of pollen pockets is not a predictor of mode of pollination. Data, direct and indirect, on 142 species, demonstrate numerous cases of the loss of active pollination and suggest one or few origins of active pollination. Hence, active pollination, an impressive example of the sophisticated traits that may result from mutualistic coevolution, depends on selective forces that can be overcome in some species, allowing reversions. Despite frequent loss, active pollination remains the predominant mode of pollination in Ficus.

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For plants with temporally separate sexual phases to outcross, population—level flowering asynchrony is necessary, but this can decrease the resource base available for pollinators. We developed a simulation model to examine the consequences of such asynchrony for individual reproductive success and long—term pollinator maintenance within monoecious fig populations. In figs, flowering is synchronous within a tree and the specialist pollinators/seed predators can only survive briefly away from trees. Consequently, population—level flowering asynchrony must extend year—round for pollinators to persist locally. In repeated stochastic simulations using phenological traits of one well—studied species (Ficus natalensis), a median of 95 trees was required to produce an asynchronous sequence that could maintain local pollinator populations for 4 yr. However, many trees in those simulated populations were either male—sterile (10%) or both male— and female—sterile (35%), because their sexual phases were not well timed with the opposite phases of other trees. Sterility within a population approached zero at 2—3 times the critical population size. Both the predicted critical population size and frequency of success of the trees within it depended strongly on the duration of reproductive episodes and the intervals between episodes. The level of within—tree reproductive synchrony was also critical: doubling the length of time over which individuals could donate pollen resulted in a 39% decrease in critical population size and a 27% increased likelihood that individuals would achieve at least some reproductive success. These results point to the need for precise phenological data for estimating plant fitness and population structure both in models and in the field.

.— The interaction between Ficus (Moraceae) and their pollinating wasps (Chalcidoidea: Agaonidae; more than 700 species‐specific couples) is one of the most specialized mutualisms found in nature. Both partners of this interaction show extensive variation in their respective biology. Here we investigate Ficus life‐history trait evolution and fig/fig wasp coadaptation in the context of a well‐resolved molecular phylogeny. Mapping out variations in Ficus life‐history traits on an independently derived phylogeny constructed from ribosomal DNA sequences (external and internal transcribed spacer) reveals several parallel transitions in Ficus growth habit and breeding system. Convergent trait evolution might explain the discrepancies between morphological analyses and our molecular reconstruction of the genus. Morphological characters probably correlate with growth habit and breeding system and could therefore be subject to convergent evolution. Furthermore, we reconstruct the evolution of Ficus inflorescence characters that are considered adaptations to the pollinators. Our phylogeny reveals convergences in ostiole shape, stigma morphology, and stamen:ovule ratio. Statistical tests taking into account the phylogenetic relationship of the species show that transitions in ostiole shape are correlated with variation in wasp pollinator head shape, and evolutionary changes in stigma morphology and stamen:ovule ratio correlate with changes in the pollination behavior of the associated wasp. These correlations provide evidence for reciprocal adaptations of morphological characters between these mutualistic partners that have interacted over a long evolutionary time. In light of previous ecological studies on mutualism, we discuss the adaptive significance of these correlations and what they can tell us about the coevolutionary process occurring between figs and their pollinators.