EAPSI: Plant-herbivore Interactions and Host Race Formation: Reconstructing the Evolution of Chrysochus-Apocynaceae Associations

EAPSI：植物-草食动物相互作用和宿主种族形成：重建金龟子-夹竹桃科协会的进化

• 批准号: 1713854
• 负责人: Elizabeth McHone
• 金额: $ 0.54万
• 依托单位: McHone Elizabeth E
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-06-01 至 2018-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1713854&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: EAPSI; Plant; herbivore; Interactions; Host

The relationships between intercontinental dispersals and the evolution of host plant-herbivore interactions are not well understood, but may offer insight into invasive species ineractions. Two species of dogbane leaf beetles (Chrysochus, Chrysomelidae) possess an adaptation allowing them to feed on the toxic dogbane plants (Apocynum, Apocynaceae) in North America. Eight Chrysochus species live in Asia alongside Apocynum, but the nature of their interactions there, and when and how the association in North America evolved, is unknown. This project will investigate the evolution of the association between Chrysochus and Apocynaceae, focusing on the interactions between the widespread C. chinensis and its multiple hosts. Specimens of Chrysochus and their host plants will be collected in China to identify previously unknown host associations and create an evolutionary tree. Feeding experiments will be conducted on C. chinensis to determine whether separate populations eat different hosts, often an early step toward speciation. Experiments will be supervised by Dr. Huai-Jun Xue, associate professor at the Institute of Zoology (IOZ) in Beijing and expert on the evolution of insect-host plant specialization. Situated within the ranges of several Chrysochus species, the IOZ holds the largest collection of the beetles in Asia, making it the ideal location to investigate their evolution.The award will be used to collect specimens of ten Chrysochus and Platycorynus (a closely related genus) species in five provinces in China. Host plants, other plants in the Apocynaceae, and observations of feeding behavior will be collected in those areas. This work will expand the host association information for the group, and DNA from field-collected and museum specimens will later be sequenced with high-throughput Illumina sequencing to construct the first molecular phylogeny of Chrysochus with complete sampling of species. C. chinensis individuals will be collected in Beijing and fed on several potential host plants in host acceptance and oviposition experiments. Their preference for, and fitness on, the potential hosts will be assessed by proxies such as growth and oviposition rates to determine whether there is evidence for the evolution of host races. This project will contribute to the field of plant-insect interactions, the natural history of an understudied group of organisms, and encourage future cooperation between the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University and the IOZ.This award under the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes program supports summer research by a U.S. graduate student and is jointly funded by NSF and the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology.

洲际扩散和宿主植物-草食动物相互作用的演变之间的关系还没有很好地理解，但可能提供深入了解入侵物种的相互作用。两种夹竹桃叶甲（Chrysochus，拟步甲科）具有一种适应性，使它们能够以北美的有毒夹竹桃植物（罗布麻属，夹竹桃科）为食。八种Chrysochus物种与罗布麻一起生活在亚洲，但它们在那里相互作用的性质，以及北美的协会何时以及如何演变，都是未知的。本研究将探讨金草属与夹竹桃科的亲缘关系演化，重点研究分布广泛的金草属与夹竹桃科之间的相互作用。chinensis及其多寄主。将在中国收集金仓鼠及其宿主植物的标本，以确定以前未知的宿主关系，并建立进化树。饲养试验将在C.中国人来确定不同的种群是否吃不同的宿主，这通常是物种形成的早期步骤。实验将由北京动物研究所（IOZ）副教授、昆虫宿主植物专业化进化专家薛怀军博士监督。该研究所位于多个物种的分布范围内，是亚洲最大的金龟子标本收集地，是研究金龟子进化的理想地点。该奖项将用于收集中国五个省份的10种金龟子和扁角甲虫（一个密切相关的属）标本。将在这些区域收集寄主植物、夹竹桃科其他植物和摄食行为观察结果。这项工作将扩大该群体的宿主关联信息，随后将使用高通量Illumina测序对现场收集和博物馆标本的DNA进行测序，以构建第一个具有完整物种采样的Chrysochus分子系统。C.在北京地区采集中华绒螯蟹个体，在几种可能的寄主植物上进行寄主接受和产卵试验。它们对潜在宿主的偏好和适应性将通过生长和产卵率等替代指标进行评估，以确定是否有宿主种族进化的证据。该项目将为植物-昆虫相互作用领域做出贡献，这是一个未被充分研究的生物群体的自然历史，并鼓励德雷克塞尔大学自然科学院与IOZ之间的未来合作。该奖项属于东亚和太平洋夏季研究所计划，支持美国研究生的夏季研究，由NSF和中国科技部共同资助。