DISSERTATION RESEARCH: A global molecular phylogeny of the problematic genus Epyris (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae)

论文研究：有问题的 Epyris 属（膜翅目：Bethidae）的全球分子系统发育

• 批准号: 1501511
• 负责人: James Carpenter
• 金额: $ 1.03万
• 依托单位: American Museum Natural History
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-06-01 至 2016-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1501511&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; global; molecular; phylogeny

Parasitoid wasps are found worldwide and in order to complete their life cycle they first parasitize another insect and eventually kill it. Some wasps are potential biocontrol agents because they parasitize major pest insects such as the Coffee Berry Borer and Navel Orange Worm, and even the Emerald Ash Borer, which currently decimates North American hardwood forests. The agricultural and economic importance of parasitoid wasps in controlling destructive insects is clear, but choosing the correct wasp is difficult. Parasitoid wasps are extremely diverse and choosing the wrong wasp can have dire consequences - they may oust native wasps from similar niches and become pests themselves. Studying the evolutionary history and producing phylogenetic trees explaining the relationships amongst different groups of wasps helps applied entomologists by providing a necessary comparative framework upon which biological criteria can be assessed. With a phylogeny, entomologists can track the evolution of host choice, biogeographical changes, and test predictions of introduced parasitoid success. As a broader impact initiative, the researchers will build off of a previously successful series of science comics, using parasitoid wasps as an engaging topic to introduce high school students to topics of parasitoidism, evolution, and systematics. In this project, the research focus is on the Epyris wasps, one of the largest genera in Bethylidae, which has been shown to be non-monophyletic, meaning that it is likely composed of several distinct genera. In prior research, a phylogeny of 150 Epyrinae taxa from 26 countries based upon DNA sequences from five genes (16S, CytB, COI, 18S and 28S) resulted in an evolutionary tree with a non-monophyletic Epyris. While the genus is polyphyletic as currently circumscribed, there were monophyletic groups of named Epyris species spread throughout Epyrinae phylogeny that likely represent new genera in need of description. To better resolve relationships among Epyrinae, fifty more species of Epyris representing potentially new genera will be included within this new research and three nuclear protein-coding gene data sets -- Elongation factor-1 alpha, long-wavelength Opsin, and Wingless -- will be added, resulting in a final matrix comprising eight genes and 200 taxa. These data will be analyzed using parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian phylogenetic methods. The three protein-coding genes are expected to resolve ambiguities present in prior phylogenies and provide greater support for new genera. With this new phylogeny, and subsequent morphological analysis, the researchers will revise the taxonomy of the old Epyris, describe new genera, and produce a new identification key for the Epyrinae for broad dissemination.

在世界范围内发现了寄生的黄蜂，为了完成其生命周期，他们首先寄生了另一种昆虫并最终杀死它。有些黄蜂是潜在的生物防治剂，因为它们会寄生主要的害虫昆虫，例如咖啡浆果和肚脐橙色蠕虫，甚至是目前破坏北美硬木森林的翡翠灰虫。 寄生虫黄蜂在控制破坏性昆虫方面的农业和经济重要性是明显的，但是选择正确的黄蜂很难。寄生的黄蜂非常多样化，选择错误的黄蜂会带来可怕的后果 - 它们可能会从类似的壁ni，并成为害虫本身。研究进化史并产生系统发育树来解释不同的黄蜂组之间的关系，从而通过提供一个必要的比较框架来评估生物学标准的必要比较框架。通过系统发育，昆虫学家可以跟踪宿主选择的演变，生物地理变化以及引入寄生虫成功的测试预测。作为一项更广泛的影响力，研究人员将利用以前成功的一系列科学漫画来建立寄生虫黄蜂作为一个引人入胜的话题，将高中生介绍给寄生虫，进化和系统学主题。在这个项目中，研究重点是贝蒂利德（Bethylidae）最大的属之一的埃皮里斯黄蜂（Epyris Wasps），该属是非单哲学的，这意味着它可能由几个不同的属组成。 在先前的研究中，基于来自五个基因（16s，Cytb，COI，18S和28S）的DNA序列的150个Epyrinae分类单元的系统发育，导致一棵具有非单属氏病的进化树。虽然该属是当前界定的多个属，但在epyrinae的系统发育中散布了命名的epyris物种的单系组，可能代表了需要描述的新属。为了更好地解决Epyrinae之间的关系，这项新的研究中将包括另外50种代表潜在新属的Epyris，将添加三个核蛋白质编码基因数据集 - 延伸因子-1 alpha，长波长蛋白和无翼 - 将被添加，从而导致最终的八个基因和200个基因。这些数据将使用简约，最大似然和贝叶斯系统发育方法进行分析。预计这三种蛋白质编码基因将解决先前的系统发育中存在的歧义，并为新属提供更大的支持。通过这种新的系统发育和随后的形态学分析，研究人员将修改旧的Epyris的分类学，描述新属，并为Epyrinae生成新的鉴定密钥，以进行广泛传播。