Dissertation Research: Introduced Plants and Native Insects: A Model System for the Study of Phytophagous Insect Evolution

该项目的目标是确定引进的植物是否促进了两个本地草食性昆虫物种之间的杂交。大铜蝶和伊迪丝铜蝶可能是两种蝴蝶的杂交物种，出现在加利福尼亚州的两个地区，那里有引进的植物物种(Curly Dock和Sheep Sorrel)。杂交蝴蝶以这些引进的植物物种为食，而许多亲本物种的种群保持着与当地寄主植物的联系。这个项目将检验这样一种假设，即引进的植物物种正在促进两个历史上分离的、遗传上截然不同的昆虫物种之间的基因流动。分子标记分析(DNA序列和指纹分析)将允许检测最近的人口统计事件，如人口扩张和基因流动。许多陆地生态系统已经因人类引起的生物引入而改变。这些介绍已经导致了许多新颖的互动，其中许多还有着未知的结果。本地食草性昆虫使用引进的植物移植物，这是一个很好的系统，用来探索有机体对新的相互作用的进化和遗传反应。到目前为止，还没有记录在案的因引进植物而导致多年生昆虫物种之间杂交的案例。这种谱系的“同质化”可能会对本土生物的遗传多样性产生深远的影响。这个项目将允许研究人员根据新的相互作用来预测进化的未来。

The goal of this project is to determine if introduced plants have facilitatedhybridization between two native herbivorous insect species. Putative hybrids of twobutterfly species, the Great Copper and Edith's Copper, occur in two regions ofCalifornia, where introduced plant species (Curly Dock and Sheep Sorrel) are present.The hybrid butterflies feed on these introduced plant species, whereas many populationsof the parental species retain their associations with native host plants. This project willtest the hypothesis that the introduced plant species are facilitating gene flow betweentwo historically separate, genetically distinct insect species. Molecular marker analyses(DNA sequence and fingerprinting analyses), will allow detection of recent demographicevents, such as population expansion and gene flow.Many, if not all, terrestrial ecosystems have been altered by human-caused bioticintroductions. These introductions have resulted in numerous novel interactions, many ofwhich have yet unknown outcomes. Native herbivorous insects using introduced plantsoffer an excellent system to explore the evolutionary and genetic responses of organismsto novel interactions. To date, there are no documented cases of hybridization betweennative insect species due to introduced plants. Such 'homogenization' of lineages couldhave profound effects on the genetic diversity of native organisms. This project willallow researchers to anticipate the future of evolution in light of novel interactions.