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Data from: Similar evolutionary potentials in an obligate ant parasite and its two host species

Pennings, Pleuni S; Achenbach, Alexandra; Foitzik, Susanne

Published Dec 17, 2010; Updated Jan 09, 2015 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.8134

Data files

Dec 17, 2010 version files 341.47 KB
Jan 09, 2015 version files 484.43 KB

Abstract

PLEASE NOTE: an additional file will be added to this data package: R script to calculate D and Gst for mtDNA (from a fasta file) and the associated p-values. It is also available here: . ABSTRACT: The spatial structure of host-parasite coevolution is shaped by population structure and genetic diversity of the interacting species. We analyzed these population genetic parameters in three related ant species: the parasitic slavemaking ant Protomognathus americanus and its two host species Temnothorax longispinosus and T. curvispinosus. We sampled throughout their range, genotyped ants on six to eight microsatellite loci and an MtDNA sequence and found high levels of genetic variation and strong population structure in all three species. Interestingly, the most abundant species and primary host, T. longispinosus, is characterized by less structure, but lower local genetic diversity. Generally, differences between the species were small, and we conclude that they have similar evolutionary potentials. The coevolutionary interaction between this social parasite and its hosts may therefore be less influenced by divergent evolutionary potentials, but rather by varying selection pressures. We employed different methods to quantify and compare genetic diversity and structure between species and genetic markers. We found that Jost D is well suited for these comparisons, as long as mutation rates between markers and species are similar. If this is not the case, for example, when using MtDNA and microsatellites to study sex-specific dispersal, model-based inference should be used instead of descriptive statistics (such as D or GST). Using coalescent-based methods, we indeed found that males disperse much more than females, but this sex bias in dispersal differed between species. The findings of the different approaches with regard to genetic diversity and structure were in good accordance with each other.