Pleistocene climate cycling and host plant association shaped the demographic history of the bark beetle Pityogenes chalcographus.

ABSTRACT: Historical climatic oscillations and co-evolutionary dependencies were key evolutionary drivers shaping the current population structure of numerous organisms. Here, we present a genome-wide study on the biogeography of the bark beetle Pityogenes chalcographus, a common and widespread insect in Eurasia. Using Restriction Associated DNA Sequencing, we studied the population structure of this beetle across a wide part of its western Palaearctic range with the goal of elucidating the role of Pleistocene glacial-interglacial cycling and its close relationship to its main host plant Norway spruce. Genetic distance among geographic sites was generally low, but clustering analysis revealed three genetically distinct groups, that is, southern, central/south-eastern, and north-eastern locations. Th

SUBMITTER: Schebeck M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6155062 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature