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Novel Endosymbioses as a Catalyst of Fast Speciation

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Reticulate Evolution

Part of the book series: Interdisciplinary Evolution Research ((IDER,volume 3))

Abstract

Many symbiotic bacteria complete their life cycle inside eukaryotic cells. In arthropods, facultative endobacteria such as Wolbachia and Spiroplasma influence enormously the ecology and evolution of their hosts. In the last decades, the idea that endosymbiotic co-evolution can lead to host speciation has been proposed and, in some instances, verified. However, although usually transmitted vertically, these bacteria can also change host through horizontal transmission. After this transfer and in a virtually instantaneous fashion, endobacteria can alter the fitness of their new host by modifying its response to the environment and/or manipulating its reproduction. In this light, horizontally transmitted endosymbionts could strongly influence the evolutionary path taken by their new hosts. Here, we argue that from this evidence emerges a testable five-step scenario for the appearance of novel host lineages.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Filipa Vala, Margarida Matos, Sara Magalhães, Thiago Carvalho, Patrícia Beldade, Pedro Lima, Inês Trancoso and Alexandre Leitão for discussions and for the critical reading of the manuscript. This work was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal (PPCDT/BIA-BDE/60950/2004 and POCTI/0664/2004).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gulbenkian Institute for Science (IGC), Apartado 14, 2780-901, Oeiras, Portugal

    Vitor G. Faria & Élio Sucena

  2. Department of Animal Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Lisbon, Edifício C2, Campo Grande, 1749-016, Lisbon, Portugal

    Élio Sucena

Authors
  1. Vitor G. Faria
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  2. Élio Sucena
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Correspondence to Vitor G. Faria or Élio Sucena .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. AppEEL—Applied Evolutionary Epistemology Lab, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

    Nathalie Gontier

Glossary

Arthropods

Arthropods belong to the phylum of Arthropoda and include insects and other animal that are characterized by an exoskeleton, a segmented body part and jointed appendages.

Aphids

Aphids are small sap-sucking insects belonging to the Aphidoidea, and include plant lice as well as green-, black- and whiteflies.

Endosymbionts versus ectosymbionts

Endosymbionts are all organisms that live on the surface of their host, while ectosymbionts are all organisms that live inside their host (in the gastrointestinal tract, airways, lymphatic systems).

Obligate symbionts versus facultative symbionts

Obligate symbionts entertain a symbiotic association with their host that is either necessary for the symbiont or the host or both, while facultative symbionts are not necessary for either the symbiont or the host’s survival.

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Faria, V.G., Sucena, É. (2015). Novel Endosymbioses as a Catalyst of Fast Speciation. In: Gontier, N. (eds) Reticulate Evolution. Interdisciplinary Evolution Research, vol 3. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16345-1_4

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