Phylogenetic analysis reveals positive correlations between adaptations to diverse hosts in a group of pathogen-like herbivores
- 28 September 2015
- Vol. 69 (10), 1-8
- https://doi.org/10.1111/evo.12772
Abstract
A jack of all trades can be master of none-this intuitive idea underlies most theoretical models of host-use evolution in plant-feeding insects, yet empirical support for trade-offs in performance on distinct host plants is weak. Trade-offs may influence the long-term evolution of host use while being difficult to detect in extant populations, but host-use evolution may also be driven by adaptations for generalism. Here we used host-use data from insect collection records to parameterize a phylogenetic model of host-use evolution in armored scale insects, a large family of plant-feeding insects with a simple, pathogen-like life history. We found that a model incorporating positive correlations between evolutionary changes in host performance best fit the observed patterns of diaspidid presence and absence on nearly all focal host taxa, suggesting that adaptations to particular hosts also enhance performance on other hosts. In contrast to the widely invoked trade-off model, we advocate a "toolbox" model of host-use evolution in which armored scale insects accumulate a set of independent genetic tools, each of which is under selection for a single function but may be useful on multiple hosts.Keywords
This publication has 38 references indexed in Scilit:
- The taxonomic name resolution service: an online tool for automated standardization of plant namesBMC Bioinformatics, 2013
- Understanding specialism when the jack of all trades can be the master of allProceedings. Biological sciences, 2012
- Joint evolution of specialization and dispersal in structured metapopulationsJournal of Theoretical Biology, 2011
- Evolutionary lability of a complex life cycle in the aphid genus BrachycaudusBMC Evolutionary Biology, 2010
- E-Learning Tools for STEMeLearn, 2009
- Have Genetic Trade-Offs in Host Use been Overlooked in Arthropods?Evolutionary Ecology, 2005
- The tri‐trophic niche concept and adaptive radiation of phytophagous insectsEcology Letters, 2005
- NEURAL LIMITATIONS IN PHYTOPHAGOUS INSECTS: Implications for Diet Breadth and Evolution of Host AffiliationAnnual Review of Entomology, 2001
- Trade-offs and the evolution of host specializationEvolutionary Ecology, 1995
- Spatial Patterns and Environmental Associates of Bamboo (Bashania fangiana Yi) After Mass-Flowering in Southwestern ChinaBulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, 1991