Original title: Why so specious? The role of pollinators and symbionts in plant population structure and speciation along elevational gradients.
Authors: SOUTO VILARÓS, Daniel
Document type: Doctoral theses
Year: 2019
Language: cze
Abstract: This thesis explores the role mutualist pollinators and their symbionts play in the genetic structuring and speciation of their host plants along an elevational gradient in Papua New Guinea. Using the fig and fig-wasp mutualism as a model system, we employed high-throughput sequencing techniques to explore fine-scale population genomics of both fig and wasps along their elevational range. We found there to be clear lowland and highland clustering of tree populations along the gradient, often with a mid-elevation contact zone. In the case of the pollinating wasps, we retrieved the same clustering except in this case, the genetic difference between clusters was high enough as to consider them as separate species. This result supports evidence from other studies challenging the cospeciation paradigm of one wasp species per fig species. In addition, we explore ecological traits which may promote, or at least, maintain, reproductive isolation between fig (sub)species along with behavioural preference tests from pollinating wasps. In order to further investigate the mechanisms promoting wasp speciation along the gradient, we describe Wolbachia infection status as well as strain type. Wolbachia-induced cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) is often invoked as a possible speciation agent since it can rapidly provoke and maintain reproductive isolation between otherwise freely interbreeding insect populations. Finally, we explore non-pollinating fig wasp (NPFW) diversity along the gradient for a subset of our focal species. Our study reveals that there is a tight relationship between NPFW diversity and host species, and a mid-elevation peak.
Keywords: character divergence; elevational gradients; Fig and fig wasp; mutualism; non-pollinating fig wasps; Papua New Guinea; pollination; population genomics; population structure; speciation
Citation: SOUTO VILARÓS, Daniel. Why so specious? The role of pollinators and symbionts in plant population structure and speciation along elevational gradients.. České Budějovice, 2019. disertační práce (Ph.D.). JIHOČESKÁ UNIVERZITA V ČESKÝCH BUDĚJOVICÍCH. Přírodovědecká fakulta

Institution: University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice (web)
Document availability information: Fulltext is available in the Digital Repository of University of South Bohemia.
Original record: http://www.jcu.cz/vskp/45205

Permalink: http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-396467


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Universities and colleges > Public universities > University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice
Academic theses (ETDs) > Doctoral theses