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MBE Advance Access published online on November 23, 2005
Molecular Biology and Evolution, doi:10.1093/molbev/msj063
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© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
Accepted November 2, 2005

Research Article

Testing "Species Pair" Hypotheses: Evolutionary Processes in the Lichen-Forming Species Complex Porpidia flavocoerulescens and Porpidia melinodes

Jutta Buschbom 1 * and Gregory Mueller 2

1 Committee on Evolutionary Biology, Culver Hall, Rm. 402, 1025 E. 57th St., Chicago, IL 60637, USA; Field Museum of Natural History, Botany Department; 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60605, USA
2 Field Museum of Natural History, Botany Department; 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60605, USA

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Jutta Buschbom, E-mail: j.buschbom{at}holz.uni-hamburg.de


  Abstract

Pairs of taxa are commonly found in lichen-forming ascomycetes that differ primarily in their reproductive modes: one taxon reproduces sexually, the other vegetatively. The evolutionary processes underlying such "species pairs" are unknown. The "species pair" formed by Porpidia flavocoerulescens (sexual) and Porpidia melinodes (vegetative) was chosen to investigate four previously proposed hypotheses. These hypotheses posit that "species pairs" are either two monophyletic, independently evolving species with contrasting reproductive mode; a single outcrossing species polymorphic with regard to its reproductive modes; a sexual mother lineage frequently giving rise to asexual spin-offs; or a complex of cryptic species. The phylogenetic patterns observed within the "species pair" in the present study were analyzed using stringent hypothesis testing and visualizations of relationships and conflict based on tree and network reconstructions. DNA-sequences at three loci revealed the same four to five deeply divergent lineages. A detailed analysis of DNA-sequence variability revealed closely linked gene loci, but high levels of conflict within each of the gene fragments, as well as between observed genetic lineages. The observed patterns of phylogenetic relationships, linkage, and conflict are not congruent with any of the previously proposed "species pair" hypotheses. Rather, it is proposed that the observed results can be explained by conflicting reproductive and nutritional requirements imposed by an obligate symbiotic lifestyle. These interacting constraints produce recurring selective sweeps within predominantly vegetatively reproducing lineages and are the main forces that shape the evolution within the investigated "species pair".

Keywords: Ascomycota; hypothesis testing; molecular phylogenetics; networks; population-level processes; Porpidia.
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 Syst BiolHome page
J. Buschbom and D. Barker
Evolutionary History of Vegetative Reproduction in Porpidia s.l. (Lichen-Forming Ascomycota)
Syst Biol, June 1, 2006; 55(3): 471 - 484.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


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