Abstract Detail

Symbioses: Plant, Animal, and Microbe Interactions

Taerum, Stephen Joshua [1], de Beer, Z. Wilhelm [2], Wingfield, Michael J. [3].

Microsatellites and symbiont assemblages support different invasion histories for the red turpentine beetle, Dendroctonus valens.

The red turpentine beetle (Dendroctonus valens) was introduced to China in the 1980s, where it has killed tens of millions of healthy pines. The beetle is associated with a wide diversity of ophiostomatoid fungi in China, including the fungus, Leptographium procerum, which has been hypothesized to have co-invaded China with D. valens and contributed to the beetle's aggressive tree-killing behaviour. Recently, the ophiostomatoid fungi associated with D. valens in the beetle's eastern and western ranges in North America were compared with those of the beetle in China. Using multigene phylogenies, we demonstrated that more symbionts, including L. procerum, were shared between eastern North America and China than between western North America and China. These findings led to the hypothesis that some or all D. valensin China may have originated from eastern North America. However, subsequent population genetics analyses using microsatellites did not support this hypothesis. Clustering analyses, distance analyses and pairwise F_ST values suggested that the source for the beetle in China is western North America. The fact that few species of ophiostomatoid fungi were associated with D. valens in western North America and China suggests that few, if any, ophiostomatoid fungi successfully coinvaded China with the beetle. Rather, the symbiont assemblage appears to have undergone a complete shift since the beetle entered China. The associated symbionts in China were apparently locally acquired, probably from native beetle species co-occurring with invasive D. valens.

1 - University of Pretoria, FABI, Department of Genetics, Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI), University of Pretoria, Private bag X20, Pretoria, 0028, South Africa
2 - University of Pretoria, FABI, Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology, Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI), University of Pretoria, Private bag X20, Pretoria, Gauteng, 0028, South Africa
3 - University of Pretoria, FABI, Department of Genetics, Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI), University of Pretoria, Private bag X20, Pretoria, Gauteng, 0028, South Africa

Keywords:
symbiosis
biological invasions
Community Assembly
Microsatellites.

Presentation Type: Poster:Posters for Topics
Session: P
Location: Hall D/The Shaw Conference Centre
Date: Monday, July 27th, 2015
Time: 5:30 PM
Number: PSB010
Abstract ID:555
Candidate for Awards:MSA Best Poster Presentation Award by a Graduate Student