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Citation for Study 18132

Citation title: "The evolution of a complex trait: cuticular hydrocarbons in ants evolve independent from phylogenetic constraints".

Study name: "The evolution of a complex trait: cuticular hydrocarbons in ants evolve independent from phylogenetic constraints".

This study is part of submission 18132 (Status: Published).

Citation

Menzel F., Schmitt T., & Blaimer B.B. 2017. The evolution of a complex trait: cuticular hydrocarbons in ants evolve independent from phylogenetic constraints. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, .

Authors

• Menzel F.
• Schmitt T.
• Blaimer B.B.

Abstract

Cuticular hydrocarbons (CHC) are ubiquitous and highly diverse in insects, serving as communication signal and waterproofing agent. Despite their vital function, the causes, mechanisms and constraints on CHC diversification are still poorly understood. Here, we investigated phylogenetic constraints on the evolution of CHC profiles, using a global dataset of the species-rich and chemically diverse ant genus Crematogaster. We decomposed CHC profiles into quantitative (relative abundances, chain length) and qualitative traits (presence/absence of CHC classes). A species-level phylogeny was estimated using newly generated and previously published sequences from five nuclear markers. Moreover, we reconstructed a phylogeny for the chemically diverse C. levior species group using cytochrome oxidase I. Phylogenetic signal was measured for these traits on genus and clade level and within the chemically diverse C. levior group. For most quantitative CHC traits, phylogenetic signal was low and did not differ from random expectation. This was true on the level of genus, clade and species-group, indicating that CHC traits are evolutionary labile. In contrast, the presence or absence of alkenes and alkadienes was highly conserved within the C. levior group. Hence, the presence or absence of biosynthetic pathways may be phylogenetically constrained, especially at lower taxonomic levels. Our study shows that CHC composition can evolve rapidly, allowing insects to quickly adapt their chemical profiles to external selection pressures, while the presence of biosynthetic pathways appears more constrained. However, our results stress the importance to consider the taxonomic level when investigating phylogenetic constraints.

External links

• DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13115

About this resource

• Canonical resource URI: http://purl.org/phylo/treebase/phylows/study/TB2:S18132
• Other versions: Nexus NeXML
• Show BibTeX reference

  		@ARTICLE{TreeBASE2Ref24980,
  	 author = {Florian  Menzel and Thomas  Schmitt and Bonnie B Blaimer},
  	 title = {The evolution of a complex trait: cuticular hydrocarbons in ants evolve independent from phylogenetic constraints},
  	 year = {2017},
  	 keywords = {},
  	 doi = {10.1111/jeb.13115},
  	 url = {http://},
  	 pmid = {},
  	 journal = {Journal of Evolutionary Biology},
  	 volume = {},
  	 number = {},
  	 pages = {},
  	 abstract = {Cuticular hydrocarbons (CHC) are ubiquitous and highly diverse in insects, serving as communication signal and waterproofing agent. Despite their vital function, the causes, mechanisms and constraints on CHC diversification are still poorly understood. Here, we investigated phylogenetic constraints on the evolution of CHC profiles, using a global dataset of the species-rich and chemically diverse ant genus Crematogaster. We decomposed CHC profiles into quantitative (relative abundances, chain length) and qualitative traits (presence/absence of CHC classes). A species-level phylogeny was estimated using newly generated and previously published sequences from five nuclear markers. Moreover, we reconstructed a phylogeny for the chemically diverse C. levior species group using cytochrome oxidase I. Phylogenetic signal was measured for these traits on genus and clade level and within the chemically diverse C. levior group.
  
  For most quantitative CHC traits, phylogenetic signal was low and did not differ from random expectation. This was true on the level of genus, clade and species-group, indicating that CHC traits are evolutionary labile. In contrast, the presence or absence of alkenes and alkadienes was highly conserved within the C. levior group. Hence, the presence or absence of biosynthetic pathways may be phylogenetically constrained, especially at lower taxonomic levels.
  
  Our study shows that CHC composition can evolve rapidly, allowing insects to quickly adapt their chemical profiles to external selection pressures, while the presence of biosynthetic pathways appears more constrained. However, our results stress the importance to consider the taxonomic level when investigating phylogenetic constraints.}
  }
  		

• Show RIS reference

  		TY  - JOUR
  ID  - 24980
  AU  - Menzel,Florian 
  AU  - Schmitt,Thomas 
  AU  - Blaimer,Bonnie B
  T1  - The evolution of a complex trait: cuticular hydrocarbons in ants evolve independent from phylogenetic constraints
  PY  - 2017
  KW  - 
  UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jeb.13115
  N2  - Cuticular hydrocarbons (CHC) are ubiquitous and highly diverse in insects, serving as communication signal and waterproofing agent. Despite their vital function, the causes, mechanisms and constraints on CHC diversification are still poorly understood. Here, we investigated phylogenetic constraints on the evolution of CHC profiles, using a global dataset of the species-rich and chemically diverse ant genus Crematogaster. We decomposed CHC profiles into quantitative (relative abundances, chain length) and qualitative traits (presence/absence of CHC classes). A species-level phylogeny was estimated using newly generated and previously published sequences from five nuclear markers. Moreover, we reconstructed a phylogeny for the chemically diverse C. levior species group using cytochrome oxidase I. Phylogenetic signal was measured for these traits on genus and clade level and within the chemically diverse C. levior group.
  
  For most quantitative CHC traits, phylogenetic signal was low and did not differ from random expectation. This was true on the level of genus, clade and species-group, indicating that CHC traits are evolutionary labile. In contrast, the presence or absence of alkenes and alkadienes was highly conserved within the C. levior group. Hence, the presence or absence of biosynthetic pathways may be phylogenetically constrained, especially at lower taxonomic levels.
  
  Our study shows that CHC composition can evolve rapidly, allowing insects to quickly adapt their chemical profiles to external selection pressures, while the presence of biosynthetic pathways appears more constrained. However, our results stress the importance to consider the taxonomic level when investigating phylogenetic constraints.
  L3  - 10.1111/jeb.13115
  JF  - Journal of Evolutionary Biology
  VL  - 
  IS  - 
  ER  -