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Title: PHYLOGENETIC RELATIONSHIPS WITHIN THE LEAF-MINING FLIES(DIPTERA: AGROMYZIDAE)INFERRED FROM SEQUENCE DATA FROM MULTIPLE GENES.

Author
item Scheffer, Sonja
item WINKLER, ISAAC - STUDENT UNIV. OF MD.
item WIEGMANN, BRIAN - NC STATE UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/12/2006
Publication Date: 3/1/2007
Citation: Scheffer, S.J., Winkler, I.S., Wiegmann, B.M. 2007. Phylogenetic relationships within the leaf-mining flies(diptera: agromyzidae)inferred from sequence data from multiple genes. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 42:756-775.

Interpretive Summary: Leafmining flies feed within many plant species, often causing severe damage. The evolutionary relationships among leafmining flies are largely unknown because many resemble each other closely, so evolutionary studies based on external structures have not been informative. This research uses molecular DNA sequence data from three genes to investigate evolutionary relationships in these plant-feeding flies as well as the evolution of their host plant preferences. This research will lead to changes in the classification of these insects, and allow us to better predict biological characters such as host plant preference in those species that have not been reared. This research will be of interest to scientists, insect pest managers, and quarantine officials.

Technical Abstract: The leafmining flies (Diptera: Agromyzidae) are a diverse group whose larvae feed internally in leaves, stems, flowers, seeds, and roots of a wide variety of plant hosts. The systematics of agromyzids has remained poorly known due to their small size and morphological homogeneity. We investigated the phylogenetic relationships among genera within the Agromyzidae using parsimony and Bayesian analyses of 2965 bp of DNA sequence data from the mitochondrial COI gene, the nuclear ribosomal 28S gene, and the single copy nuclear CAD gene. We included 86 species in 21 genera, including all but a few small genera, and spanning the diversity within the family. The results from parsimony and Bayesian analyses were largely similar, with major groupings of genera in common. Specifically, both analyses recovered a monophyletic Phytomyzinae, while the Agromyzinae was found to be monophyletic in the parsimony analysis but broken into two groups with an unresolved relationship in the Bayesian analysis. Within the subfamilies, genera found to be monophyletic given our sampling include Agromyza, Amauromyza, Calycomyza, Cerodontha, Liriomyza, Melanagromyza, Metopomyza, Nemorimyza, Phytobia, and Pseudonapomyza. Several genera were found to be polyphyletic or paraphyletic including Aulagromyza, Chromatomyia, Phytoliriomyza, Phytomyza, and Ophiomyia. We evaluate our findings in light of current agromyzid taxonomy and two recent hypotheses of relationships based on morphological data.