Evolutionary radiation of Asteromyia carbonifera (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) gall morphotypes on the goldenrod Solidago altissima (Asteraceae)

Stireman, John O.; Janson, Eric M.; Carr, Timothy G.; Devlin, Hilary; Abbot, Patrick

doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.2008.01101.x

Cited by 23 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 68 publications

(101 reference statements)

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“…Phytophagous insects which have evolved symbiotic association with fungi exhibit niche expansion, in the form of use of a broader range of host-plant taxa, because their fungal symbionts are cosmopolitan plant pathogens capable of digesting dozens of plant families worldwide [30,33]. Buffering interactions with plant taxa through symbiotic interaction with generalist fungi may thus relax phylogenetic constraints on the hostplant preferences of phytophagous insects imposed by characteristics of their host-plant lineages such as host-plant chemistry [57], natural enemies [36,58] or plant defences [59].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Symbiosis catalyses niche expansion and diversification

Joy

2013

Proc. R. Soc. B.

104

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Interactions between species are important catalysts of the evolutionary processes that generate the remarkable diversity of life. Symbioses, conspicuous and inherently interesting forms of species interaction, are pervasive throughout the tree of life. However, nearly all studies of the impact of species interactions on diversification have concentrated on competition and predation leaving unclear the importance of symbiotic interaction. Here, I show that, as predicted by evolutionary theories of symbiosis and diversification, multiple origins of a key innovation, symbiosis between gall-inducing insects and fungi, catalysed both expansion in resource use (niche expansion) and diversification. Symbiotic lineages have undergone a more than sevenfold expansion in the range of host-plant taxa they use relative to lineages without such fungal symbionts, as defined by the genetic distance between host plants. Furthermore, symbiotic gall-inducing insects are more than 17 times as diverse as their non-symbiotic relatives. These results demonstrate that the evolution of symbiotic interaction leads to niche expansion, which in turn catalyses diversification.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The gall structures induced by species of ambrosia gall midges on a variety of different plant tissue types (root, stem, bud, leaf, flower or seed) are lined internally with fungal hyphae which the developing larval gall midges use as food [10,11,15,31 -35], but also for defence against natural enemies [29,30,36,37].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Symbiosis catalyses niche expansion and diversification

Joy

2013

Proc. R. Soc. B.

104

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“…As in many galling taxa, parasitism rates can be high (approaching 80%), suggesting that parasitoids exert significant selective pressure on Asteromyia behaviour and life history. Observations that gall tissue protects larval A. carbonifera from parasitoids (Weis, ), that parasitism levels vary significantly among co‐occurring gall morphs on S. altissima (Stireman et al ., ) and that these gall morphs differ in their susceptibility to different parasitoid species (J. O. Stireman, J. J. Heath & B. L. Wells, unpublished) all strongly suggest that divergence in gall morphology is related to selection by parasitoids, as has been reported in other galling systems (e.g. Cooper & Rieske, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 71%

“…The focus of the present work, Asteromyia carbonifera, attacks a diverse array of Solidago species in North America. On one host plant, Solidago altissima , A. carbonifera appears to be undergoing a ‘radiation within a radiation’ and expresses genetically distinct gall morphotypes (Stireman et al ., , ). The polymorphism in gall morphology is visually conspicuous and has attracted the attention of various researchers over the past few decades (Weis, ,b; Crego et al ., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rampant host‐ and defensive phenotype‐associated diversification in a goldenrod gall midge

Stireman

Devlin

Abbot

2012

J of Evolutionary Biology

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Natural selection can play an important role in the genetic divergence of populations and their subsequent speciation. Such adaptive diversification, or ecological speciation, might underlie the enormous diversity of plant-feeding insects that frequently experience strong selection pressures associated with host plant use as well as from natural enemies. This view is supported by increasing documentation of host-associated (genetic) differentiation in populations of plant-feeding insects using alternate hosts. Here, we examine evolutionary diversification in a single nominal taxon, the gall midge Asteromyia carbonifera (O.S.), with respect to host plant use and gall phenotype. Because galls can be viewed as extended defensive phenotypes of the midges, gall morphology is likely to be a reflection of selective pressures by enemies. Using phylogenetic and comparative analyses of mtDNA and nuclear sequence data, we find evidence that A. carbonifera populations are rapidly diversifying along host plant and gall morphological lines. At a broad scale, geography explains surprisingly little genetic variation, and there is little evidence of strict co-cladogenesis with their Solidago hosts. Gall morphology is relatively labile, distinct gall morphs have evolved repeatedly and colonized multiple hosts, and multiple genetically and morphologically distinct morphs frequently coexist on a single host plant species. These results suggest that Asteromyia carbonifera is in the midst of an adaptive radiation driven by multitrophic selective pressures. Similar complex community pressures are likely to play a role in the diversification of other herbivorous insect groups.

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“…The vast majority of the gall midge species are monophagous herbivores (Gagné, 2004(Gagné, , 2010) specialized on a single plant family, plant species, plant organ or plant part (Stireman et al, 2008;Mishima et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Host Attraction and Selection in the Swede Midge (Contarinia nasturtii)

et al. 2018

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Gall midges (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) are a speciose family that, as adults, are short lived (lasting only a few days), they use olfactory cues for host and mate localization, and their host plant specificity is a key characteristic of the family. These traits make them good models with which to study the role of olfaction in speciation. The overall objective of this study was to analyze the host selection behavior of the gall midge, Contarinia nasturtii, a crucifer specialist that also is a crucifer pest. Here, we demonstrate that the host specificity of gravid C. nasturtii females was initiated by the olfactory-driven host plant choice during oviposition. Olfactory preference of the female, while narrow, encompassed more plants than were accepted for egg-laying, indicating that other factors following the initial olfactory attraction are involved in ultimate host choice. Similarly, C. nasturtii showed flexibility in host plant choice depending on which plants were available for oviposition. Larvae developed on host plants selected by females for oviposition. This slightly broader range of olfactory preference over acceptance, and the flexibility in host choice, might be the basis for the rapid speciation reported in the gall midge family. Furthermore, we assessed whether ubiquitous and/or family-specific plant odors are involved in the attraction of gravid C. nasturtii to their hosts. For that, we used the crucifer Arabidopsis thaliana, which has a broad range of defined ecotypes and large number of mutants. The attraction of C. nasturtii to two A. thaliana-types were tested; one that does not produce the ubiquitous green leaf volatiles (Columbia, Col-0), and a knock-out mutant which does not produce the crucifer-specific glucosinolates. Surprisingly, C. nasturtii was attracted to both types, indicating that neither of these compounds, nor their breakdown products (e.g., isothiocyanates), are essential for C. nasturtii host attraction.

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Evolutionary radiation of Asteromyia carbonifera (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) gall morphotypes on the goldenrod Solidago altissima (Asteraceae)

Cited by 23 publications

References 68 publications

Symbiosis catalyses niche expansion and diversification

Symbiosis catalyses niche expansion and diversification

Rampant host‐ and defensive phenotype‐associated diversification in a goldenrod gall midge

Host Attraction and Selection in the Swede Midge (Contarinia nasturtii)

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