Genetic diversity and structure of Atta robusta (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Attini), an endangered species endemic to the restinga ecoregion

Abstract

The genetic diversity and structure of the ant Atta robusta were assessed by ISSR (inter-simple sequence repeats) in 72 colonies collected from 10 localities in the Brazilian states of Espírito Santo (48 colonies) and Rio de Janeiro (24 colonies). The ISSR pattern included 67 bands, 51 of them (76.1%) polymorphic. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed a high level (57.4%) of inter-population variation, which suggested a high degree of genetic structure that was confirmed by UPGMA (unweighted pair-group method using an arithmetic average) cluster analysis. The significant correlation between genetic and geographic distances (r = 0.64, p < 0.05) indicated isolation that reflected the distance between locations. Overall, the populations were found to be genetically divergent. This finding indicates the need for management plans to preserve and reduce the risk of extinction of A. robusta.

Landscape genetics across the Andes Mountains: Environmental variation drives genetic divergence in the leaf-cutting ant Atta cephalotes

“…As expected from a common biogeographical history, similar mtCOI patterns have been detected in the leaf-cutting ant A. colombica (Helmkampf et al 2008), where six mtCOI haplotypes and relatively low levels of nucleotide diversity (0.1% population-wide) were detected across 20 colonies, with most specimens sharing the same haplotype. However, these results were obtained from a small sample size in a small area, and despite that several other genetic studies have been reported in Attini (e.g., Acromyrmex) (Diehl et al 2001(Diehl et al , 2002Cantagalli et al 2013;Pinheiro dos Reis et al 2014), the nature of markers and sampling prevents us from meaningful comparisons on diversity estimates.…”

“…The underlying causes of genetic isolation of populations have been rarely explored in leaf-cutting ants (Branstetter et al 2017). In A. sexdens rubipilosa, geographic separation of populations did not explain population divergence alone (Cantagalli et al, 2013), and significant IBD and biome fragmentation imposed physical barriers to gene flow in A. robusta (Pinheiro dos Reis et al 2014). All these results together strongly suggest that investigated isolating mechanisms are not mutually exclusive (Crispo et al 2006;Edwards et al 2012;Wang et al 2013), and are important in the evolution of Neotropical species.…”

Caracterização e seleção de marcadores ISSR para análise genético-populacional de Atta sexdens (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

“…Portanto, são destinadas à estudos genéticos de fingerprinting, diversidade genética e análise filogenética (Faleiro, 2007). Considerando as vespas, abelhas e formigas (classe Insecta, ordem Hymenoptera) é possível verificar um número bem superior de estudos com estes marcadores em espécies pertencente ao grupo das abelhas (Ceksteryte et al, 2012, Shouhani et al, 2014, Rahimi et al, 2016 e vespas (De Leon et al, 2010, Ardeh, 2013 quando comparado ao grupo das formigas, em especial as formigas cortadeiras (Reis et al, 2014).…”

“…Estudos ecológicos e genéticos contribuem para a compreensão das populações de formigas cortadeiras em diversos ambientes (Cantagalli et al, 2013, Reis et al, 2014. Entretanto, para A. sexdens há carência de estudos genéticomoleculares.…”

ENCICLOPÉDIA BIOSFERA , Centro Científico Conhecer - Goiânia, v.14 n.25; p. 2017 66 COMPARAÇÃO DE PROTOCOLOS PARA EXTRAÇÃO DE DNA GENÔM ICO DA ESPÉCIE Atta sexdens (HYMENOPTERA:FORMICIDAE)

“…Em relação à fonte de tecido utilizada para extração de DNA genômico de formigas cortadeiras os registros na literatura apontam para o uso de diferentes tecidos, a exemplo da: Cabeça (CARVALHO & VIEIRA, 2001;CANTAGALLI et al, 2013), Cabeça e Mesossoma (REIS et al, 2014) e Corpo Inteiro (GRUTZMACHER et al, 2002;KAKAZU et al, 2013), inexistindo contudo comparação que possibilite justificar a escolha de um tecido em detrimento do outro.…”