Mitochondrial and nuclear markers highlight the biodiversity of Kalotermes flavicollis (Fabricius, 1793) (Insecta, Isoptera, Kalotermitidae) in the Mediterranean area

Abstract

The biodiversity of the European termite Kalotermes flavicollis is here studied through the analysis of mitochondrial (303 bp of control region and 912 bp of COI/tRNA(Leu)/COII) and nuclear (five microsatellite and 20 Inter-SINE loci) markers on 18 colonies collected in Southern France, Corsica, Sardinia, peninsular Italy, the Balkans and Greece. Different statistical analyses (Bayesian phylogenetic analysis,parsimony network, F-statistics, PCA) were performed. Mitochondrial sequences produced an unresolved polytomy including samples from peninsular Italy, Balkans and Greece, and three main clades: southern France, Corsica-Sardinia and Portoscuso(SW Sardinia). Nuclear markers confirm these data, further highlighting a more significant divergence at the regional scale. The results obtained for the peri-Tyrrhenian area agree with major paleogeographic and paleoclimatic events that shaped the biodiversity of the local fauna. K. flavicollis biodiversity and its phylogeographic pattern are also evaluated in the light of the data available for the other native European termite taxon (genus Reticulitermes), in order to produce a more complete scenario of the Mediterranean. In the area comprised between southern France and Italy, the degree of diversity is similar; however, in the eastern area, while K. flavicollis is differentiated only at the population level, the genus Reticulitermes comprises at least six entities of specific and/or subspecific level. This discrepancy may be explained by taking into account the different evolutionary histories of the two taxa.

Extreme genetic mixing within colonies of the wood‐dwelling termiteKalotermes flavicollis(Isoptera,Kalotermitidae)

“…; Velonà et al . ; Table ). Being a protein‐coding region, the COI/tRNA‐Leu/COII region should have had a lower diversity than the CR region.…”

“…The obtained sequences, along with sequences retrieved from previous studies (Velonà et al . ; unpublished results), resulted in a 912‐bp‐long alignment, which revealed 65 variable positions (57 parsimony informative sites): 10 in the COI domain (eight in the 3rd codon position, one in the 1st and one in the 2nd) and 55 in the COII sequence (43 in the 3rd codon position, eight in the 1st and four in the 2nd). No variable sites were found in the tRNA‐Leu region.…”

“…Protocols for PCR amplification, including primers, and sequencing were performed as described in Velonà et al . (). Sequence data matrices were aligned and analysed with MEGA 5 (Tamura et al .…”

“…Primer sets and PCR conditions are described in Velonà et al . (). The software genalex 6.41 (Peakall & Smouse ) was utilized to obtain: (i) the number of alleles per locus, (ii) the intracolony relatedness ( r ), (iii) the amova analysis (with significance of Φ pt obtained after 10 4 permutations) and (iv) the multivariate principal coordinate analysis (PCA).…”

List of trees and shrubs infested by Kalotermes flavicollis (Kalotermitidae) in Greece

“…Very often, infested trees may be in physical contact with adjacent houses via their roots, transmitting the infestation therein. This phenomenon has been observed in many countries around the world (Kailidis, ; Maistrello & Sbrenna, ; Lopez et al ., ; Velonà et al ., ; Ferreira et al ., ).…”