Skip to main content
Dryad

16S rDNA sequencing data for characterizing the endosymbionts of leaf curl plum aphid ( Brachycaudus helichrysi) clones

Data files

Apr 04, 2024 version files 1.02 GB

Abstract

Asexual lineages often exhibit broad distributions and can thrive in extreme habitats compared to their sexual counterparts. Several hypotheses can be proposed to explain this pattern. Asexual lineages could be versatile genotypes with wide environmental tolerance, enabling their dispersal and persistence across large geographic areas. Alternatively, asexual genotypes could be ecological specialists that thrive in specific environments and outcompete relatives colonizing distantly related areas with similar conditions in the process. Several aphid species feature widespread obligate asexual lineages, commonly known as “superclones”. Yet it is often unknown whether these clones are widespead ecological generalists or  successful specialists. To explore these hypotheses, we examined climatic niche differentiation among six globally distributed obligate asexual lineages of the cosmopolitan aphid pest, Brachycaudus helichrysi. To insure that we were investigating the aphid genotype niche and not a by-product of their association with endosymbionts mediating thermal tolerance, we first verified that clones hosted similar endosymbiont communities. Subsequently, we conducted multivariate analyses on clone occurrence data on a worldwide scale. Our results revealed that despite their global distribution, B. helichrysi superclones occupy different climatic niches. This study represents the first evidence that aphid superclones distribution can be mediated by distinctive ranges of climatic tolerance.