Population Structure and Genetic Diversity in Insular Populations of Nasutitermes takasagoensis (Isoptera: Termitidae) Analyzed by AFLP Markers

Abstract

Dispersal ability and degree of inbreeding in a population can indirectly be assessed using genetic markers. In general, it was suggested that winged termites are not able to fly distances greater than several hundred meters. Here, amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) was used to analyze genetic diversity, population substructure, and gene flow among insular populations of the termite Nasutitermes takasagoensis (Isoptera: Termitidae) in the Yaeyama Islands, Okinawa, Japan. Samples were collected from 77 nests on seven islands of the Yaeyama Group. Using three primer combinations a total of 155 bands were generated with 78 (50%) polymorphic bands. Genetic distance and G(st) values among insular populations were calculated. Relatively high genetic diversity and low values of G (st), suggest there is moderate subpopulation structure. Based on these results, we discussed two possibilities; first, winged termites are able to fly over distances of several kilometers, and second, these results were obtained because insular populations share a recent common origin.

High gene flow between populations of Macrotermes michaelseni (Isoptera, Termitidae)

“…Direct fi eld observations on swarming alates indicated that the mean fl ight distance is in the order of several hundreds of meters (Nutting, 1969; see also Brandl et al, 1996;García et al, 2002). Due to the constrained active dispersal of termites one might expect considerable and variable genetic differentiation between nearby populations.…”

Sex-Pairing Pheromone in the Asian Termite Pest Species Odontotermes formosanus

“…The very short-distance attraction in termites may be explained The number of termites used for each test is indicated at the base of the columns by the relatively short distance they can fly (5-100 m on average) (Nutting, 1969;Jones et al, 1988), although some spectacular distances traversed in some species have been inferred or recorded (Harvey, 1934;Jones et al, 1988;García et al, 2002;Messenger and Mullins, 2005). Termite sex-pairing pheromones are considered to possess a dual role with the long-distance attraction of females and males, and the short-distance attraction maintaining tandem behavior (Nutting, 1969;Bordereau and Pasteels, 2011).…”

Identification of soldier caste-specific protein in the frontal gland of nasute termite Nasutitermes takasagoensis (Isoptera: Termitidae)

“…Field sampling N. takasagoensis is distributed in the Ryukyu Islands (Garcı´a et al, 2002(Garcı´a et al, , 2004, Taiwan and Yunnan Province of China (Morimoto, 2000). Four colonies of N. takasagoensis were collected in April 2002 and 2003 from Iriomote Island, and in June 2002 and May 2004 from Ishigaki Island, Okinawa, Japan.…”