Mitochondrial DNA analysis reveals spatial genetic structure and high genetic diversity of Massicus raddei (Blessig) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) in China

Abstract

The oak longhorned beetle (OLB), Massicus raddei (Blessig, 1872) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), is widely distributed in Asia (China, the Korean Peninsula, Japan, Vietnam and the Russian Far‐East), but pest outbreaks have occurred only in Liaoning Province and Jilin Province of China. In order to explore possible mechanisms of local population outbreaks and characterize the genetic diversity and genetic structure of M. raddei across its range in China, three mitochondrial genes ( COI, Cytb, and COII ) were sequenced and analyzed for seven M. raddei populations collected from six provinces in China. From these different populations, we found a high haplotype and nucleotide diversity. Haplotype networks and phylogenetic analyses both demonstrate apparent genetic diversification between SC (southern China) and NC (northern China) population groups. A set of 21 pairwise comparisons for Fst (pairwise fixation indices) and Nm (genetic flow index) showed significant genetic differentiation and limited gene flow except for two pairs, Shandong (SD) and Liaoning (LN), and Anhui (AH) and Henan (HN). This pattern suggested that the periodic outbreak of the LN population could not be attributed to the absence of genetic flow with other spatial populations and that regional environmental factors might be responsible. AMOVA (Analysis of molecular variance) showed that the greater molecular genetic variation was among populations. Based on Tajima's D statistic, Fu's Fs , and the mismatch distribution test, we determined that the seven populations sampled were stable and had not experienced any recent population expansion. The fact that all the sampled populations showed only unique haplotypes and lacked shared or ancestral haplotypes, as well as the nonstar‐like distribution of haplotype network for concatenated genes, collectively provided powerful evidence of the stable and isolated nature of most populations. The high genetic differentiation and spatial genetic structuring among populations are both likely related to the beetle's moderate flight capacity, regional variation in host tree species and microclimate, as well as the geographic distance between sampling sites.

Genetic Diversity of a Rising Invasive Pest in the Native Range: Population Genetic Structure of Aromia bungii (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) in South Korea

“…The haplotype network result of Korea RLB showed a moderate star-like topology that many minor haplotypes are related to a major central haplotype. In comparison to our result that the major haplogroup and major haplotype (HG1) are observed in most of the sampled locality, both studies [17,28] rather showed all the sampled populations showed a lack of shared haplotypes. The ubiquitous distribution of major haplogroups (HG1), geographically separated two minor haplogroups (HG2 and HG3), and the moderate overall genetic structure indicates RLB populations in Korea might not be influenced by strong anthropogenic events.…”

“…Despite population genetic structure can differ by species [26], sampling [27], and the selected genetic marker [28], our result was different from those of the two closely related species that shows nonstar-like network topology: Chinese Neocerambyx raddei Blessig, 1872 [28], Korean and global Anoplophora glabripennis (Motschulsky, 1854) [17]. The haplotype network result of Korea RLB showed a moderate star-like topology that many minor haplotypes are related to a major central haplotype.…”

Population Genetics Reveals That the Western Tianshan Mountains Populations of Agrilus mali (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) May Have Not been Recently Introduced

“…Population genetics can also help reconstruct the demographic history and understand whether a population is native or invasive ( Zheng et al, 2013 ; Men et al, 2017 ). Population genetics also helps determine whether an invasion was the result of multiple independent introduction events or a long-term spread from a single source population ( Xun et al, 2016 ; Zhang et al, 2020 ; Du et al, 2021 ). In this case, genetic polymorphisms transmitted in a strictly Mendelian manner provide useful information.…”

Risk Assessment of the Worldwide Expansion and Outbreak of Massicus raddei (Blessig) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) Based on Host Plant and Climatic Factors

“…Massicus raddei is widely distributed in eastern Asia, but only the oak forests of Liaoning and Jilin Provinces in China are severely infested. Sun [ 2 ] and Zhang et al [ 19 , 47 ] both concluded that regional outbreaks of M. raddei in northeastern China could be facilitated by the combined effects of particular periodical emergence behavior and the extensive distribution of susceptible host species. Hence, the present study specifically identified the current distribution and projected the potential distribution of the two susceptible hosts.…”