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Mechanisms of Speciation in Southeast Asian Ant-Plants of the Genus Macaranga (Euphorbiaceae)

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Evolution in Action

Abstract

The palaeotropic genus Macaranga (Euphorbiaceae) is an excellent model system to analyze co-evolutionary processes associated with myrmecophytism, a mutualistic interaction between plants and ants. Ant-plants like Macaranga provide nesting space and feed their partners, whereas the ants protect the plants from herbivores and competitors such as lianas. We used genome-based evidence to investigate speciation mechanisms in Macaranga ant-plants, and their co-evolution with ants from the genus Crematogaster. Our previous work had shown that myrmecophytic Macaranga species show little genetic differentiation, suggesting an adaptive radiation. We hypothesized that the obligatory symbiosis with ants may reduce gene flow among plant populations, eventually enhancing allopatric speciation. To test this hypothesis, we verified the monophyly of the investigated plant lineages by phylogenetic analyses, reconstructed parsimony networks based on chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) variation, and assessed population genetic parameters using nuclear microsatellites and cpDNA haplotypes. Our data provided evidence for vicariant events as well as for hybridization and cpDNA introgression among closely related Macaranga species. The extent of population differentiation within myrmecophytic versus non-myrmecophytic species proved to be in a similar range, indicating that our working hypothesis of enhanced allopatric speciation in myrmecophytes cannot be sustained by the present evidence. Nevertheless, the mutualistic interactions of Macaranga and associated ants may be a key innovation that opened an adaptive zone putatively exploited by the divergence of Macaranga.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge financial support by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (grants We 1830/4, Fi 606/5 and Bl 462/2) within priority program SPP1127. Permission to conduct research in Malaysia was kindly granted by the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) of the Prime Minister´s Office, Kuala Lumpur and EPU in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, as well as the Danum Valley Management Committee and the Forest Department, Sarawak. The permit to work in Brunei was obtained by Universiti Brunei Darussalam and Brunei Museum. We thank our counterparts and colleagues in Malaysia and Brunei for their cooperation and support, especially Prof. Datin Dr. Maryati Mohamed, Dr. Rosli bin Hashim, Dr. Kamariah Abu Salim, and members of Sabah Parks, namely Dr. Jamili Nais and Dr. Maklarin bin Lakim. Logistic support and help in many other ways by Prof. Dr. K. Eduard Linsenmair is gratefully acknowledged. We thank Dr. Ferry Slik and Prof. Dr. Ulrich Maschwitz for the kind supply of plant material, and Dr. Heike Feldhaar for fruitful discussions on ant–plant interactions. Two anonymous reviewers provided valuable suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plant Molecular Systematics, University of Kassel, 34109, Kassel, Germany

    Kurt Weising, Daniela Guicking, Christina Fey-Wagner, Tim Kröger-Kilian, Tina Wöhrmann, Wiebke Dorstewitz, Gudrun Bänfer, Ute Moog & Miriam Vogel

  2. Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Science (IPK), 06466, Gatersleben, Germany

    Christina Baier & Frank R. Blattner

  3. Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology (Zoology III), Biocenter, University of Würzburg, 97074, Würzburg, Germany

    Brigitte Fiala

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  1. Kurt Weising
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  2. Daniela Guicking
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  3. Christina Fey-Wagner
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  4. Tim Kröger-Kilian
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  5. Tina Wöhrmann
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  7. Gudrun Bänfer
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  8. Ute Moog
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  9. Miriam Vogel
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  10. Christina Baier
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  12. Brigitte Fiala
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Correspondence to Kurt Weising .

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  1. Museum für Naturkunde, Humboldt Universität Berlin, Invalidenstraße 43, Berlin, 10115, Germany

    Matthias Glaubrecht

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Weising, K. et al. (2010). Mechanisms of Speciation in Southeast Asian Ant-Plants of the Genus Macaranga (Euphorbiaceae). In: Glaubrecht, M. (eds) Evolution in Action. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-12425-9_9

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