A first assessment of genetic variability in the longhorn beetleRosalia alpina(Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) from the Italian Apennines

Abstract

The Rosalia longicorn (Rosalia alpina) is a strictly protected saproxylic beetle, widely distributed in Central and Southern Europe and mainly associated with ancient beech forests. To improve knowledge about the conservation status of R. alpina in Italy, available molecular markers (microsatellites and mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I(COI)) were tested for the first time on Italian populations. The study was performed in four sampling sites distributed in two areas placed in Northern ("Foreste Casentinesi" National Park) and Central Apennines ("Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise" National Park) where populational data about Rosalia longicorn were collected in the framework of the European LIFE MIPP Project. The genetic relationship among Apennine and Central/South-eastern European populations was explored by a comparison with mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) data from literature. Microsatellite markers were only partially informative when applied to R. alpina Italian individuals, although providing some preliminary indication on an extensive gene flow among populations from the Apennines and local ongoing processes of genetic erosion. Genetic data are consistent with previous ecological data suggesting that the maintenance of variability in this species could be related to both habitat continuity and preservation of large senescent or standing dead trees in forests. Finally, a peculiar origin of the Apennine populations of R. alpina from a putative "Glacial Refugium" in Italy was inferred through COI data. The high genetic distance scored among the analysed populations and those from Central and Southeastern Europe indicates that the R. alpina deme from Apennine Mountains might represent a relevant conservation unit in Europe. Further genetic analyses will allow assessing other possible conservation units of R. alpina and, thus, defining large-scale conservation strategies to protect this endangered longhorn beetle in Europe.

Phylogeny of European Pyrochroa (Coleoptera, Pyrochroidae) reveals cryptic taxa and different glacial histories

“…The high genetic isolation between IC and EC (Figures 1 and 3), primarily associated with the Pleistocene Riss/Illinoian glacial phase (Figure S5), indicates that the post-glacial expansion of Italian populations did not participate in the colonization of central Europe, as already observed in other saproxylic species (e.g. Drag et al, 2018;Molfini et al, 2018;Solano et al, 2016). The extremely high haplotype diversity observed in IC compared with EC (Table 1; Figure 3) suggests a post-glacial colonization of the peninsula by northward routes from forest glacial refugia in southern Italy (Hewitt, 2000).…”

“…As in other saproxylic beetles (e.g. Drag et al, 2018;Kajtoch et al, 2022;Molfini et al, 2018), the evolutionary history of Pyrochroa species may have followed that of their host plants, thus we interpreted our results considering the biogeographical events related to glacial refugia and post-glacial colonization of forests in Europe. Finally, we describe a new canthariphilous species of Pyrochroa from central Europe, previously suspected according to larval morphology (Molfini et al, 2021).…”

Genetic structure and population demographics of Hypnoidus bicolor (Coleoptera: Elateridae) in the Canadian Prairies

“…Although it is widely used in species diagnostics, its robustness and comparatively strong phylogenetic signal make this gene ideal for characterizing genetic variation in natural populations and reconstructing gene genealogies 18,19 . Consequently, COX1 has been amplified to assess genetic structure and/or delineate pest species of coleopterans sampled from a wide variety of habitats and geographical regions 20–25 . In our studies, we sequenced a 622‐bp region of the COX1 gene from H. bicolor individuals collected across the Canadian Prairies in order to: (i) determine population genetic structure and demographics of H. bicolor , and (ii) unravel cryptic forms associated with H. bicolor “species complex.”…”

Is biocontrol efficacy rather driven by the plant or the antagonist genotypes? A conceptual bioassay approach

“…Genetic variation within a plant species has been shown to have a strong influence on the performance of the associated herbivores for survival, developmental time and herbivore dynamics, due to differences in secondary compounds and nutrients within-plant species (Beck et al 2014;Müller et al 2006;Underwood and Rausher 2000). Similarly, within-species genetic variability in insects is known to differ among distinct geographic populations (Carter et al 2009;Molfini et al 2018;Nishide et al 2015), which may result in different herbivore performance on their host plants (Goolsby et al 2006;Lommen et al 2017b). Plant-antagonist interactions are thus often genotype-specific (Burdon et al 1996;Campanella et al 2009).…”