Global genetic analysis reveals the putative native source of the invasive termite, Reticulitermes flavipes, in France

Abstract

Biological invasions are recognized as a major threat to both natural and managed ecosystems. Phylogeographic and population genetic analyses can provide information about the geographical origins and patterns of introduction and explain the causes and mechanisms by which introduced species have become successful invaders. Reticulitermes flavipes is a North American subterranean termite that has been introduced into several areas, including France where introduced populations have become invasive. To identify likely source populations in the USA and to compare the genetic diversity of both native and introduced populations, an extensive molecular genetic study was undertaken using the COII region of mtDNA and 15 microsatellite loci. Our results showed that native northern US populations appeared well differentiated from those of the southern part of the US range. Phylogenetic analysis of both mitochondrial and nuclear markers showed that French populations probably originated from southeastern US populations, and more specifically from Louisiana. All of the mtDNA haplotypes shared between the United States and France were found in Louisiana. Compared to native populations in Louisiana, French populations show lower genetic diversity at both mtDNA and microsatellite markers. These findings are discussed along with the invasion routes of R. flavipes as well as the possible mechanisms by which French populations have evolved after their introduction.

Communication and Social Regulation in Termites

“…Indeed, it was later shown that R. santonensis had been misidentified; the "species" turned out to be R. flavipes, which had become established in France (and other parts of the world) after several of its founders had arrived from Louisiana, most likely when it was still a French colony (Perdereau et al 2010b(Perdereau et al , 2011(Perdereau et al , 2013. The CHC data confirm the DNA data.…”

Subterranean termite phylogeography reveals multiple postglacial colonization events in southwestern Europe

“…2005; Perdereau et al. 2010, 2013). The amplification of all primers was performed using a Stratagene thermal cycler in accordance with Vargo (2000), except for the following minor modifications.…”

Worldwide invasion routes of the pinewood nematode: What can we infer from population genetics analyses?

“…This makes it difficult to determine which result is the most likely when several alternatives are proposed . However, these classical and Bayesian methods have proved both useful and conclusive in other cases of invasion (Ciosi et al 2008;Facon et al 2003;Kolbe et al 2004;Papura et al 2012;Perdereau et al 2013;Wan et al 2012). We can therefore put forward several hypotheses to account for the conflicting results obtained here: (1) the low level of diversity may have resulted in a lack of power to discriminate between the two possible alternatives, (2) the strong spatial genetic structure observed in the USA, requiring a very large sampling scheme to embrace most genetic variation of the native and (3) the lack of samples from some of the existing invaded areas, such as China or South Korea, potentially serving as sources for the invasion of Europe, as suggested by Figueiredo et al (2013) on the basis of analyses of collection samples for PWN.…”

“…Deciphering geographic pathways followed by invasive species is a key first step in this direction. Many studies carried out over the last decade have tried to identify the invasion routes of several invasive species, including insects (Papura et al 2012;Pascual et al 2007;Perdereau et al 2013;Zepeda-Paulo et al 2010), plants (Kelager et al 2013), nematodes (Boucher et al 2013) and fungi (Fontaine et al 2013). Indeed, this approach can be used to address various questions of both practical and theoretical concern .…”