Phylogenomics of braconid wasps (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) sheds light on classification and the evolution of parasitoid life history traits

Authors: JASS0-MARTINEZ, JOVANA - Instituto De Biologia; SANTOS, BERNARDO - The Museum; ZALDIVAR-RIVERON, ALEJANDRO - Instituto De Biologia; FERNANDEZ-TRIANA, J. - Canadian National Collection Of Insects & Ottawa Plant Laboratory, Entomology; SHARANOWSKI, BARBARA - University Of Central Florida; RICHTER, ROBIN - Agriculture And Agri-Food Canada; DETTMAN, JEREMY - Agriculture And Agri-Food Canada; BLAIMER, BONNIE - Museum Of Naturkunde; BRADY, SEAN - Smithsonian Institute; Kula, Robert

Submitted to: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/1/2022
Publication Date: 5/18/2022
Citation: Jass0-Martinez, J.M., Santos, B.F., Zaldivar-Riveron, A., Fernandez-Triana, J., Sharanowski, B.J., Richter, R., Dettman, J., Blaimer, B.B., Brady, S., Kula, R.R. 2022. Phylogenomics of braconid wasps (Hymenoptera, Braconidae) sheds light on classification and the evolution of parasitoid life history traits. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 173:107452. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107452.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107452

Interpretive Summary: Parasitic wasps attack crop and forest pests that cause billions of dollars of damage annually. The wasp family treated in this paper contains natural enemies critical for controlling plant-feeding beetles, flies, caterpillars, and aphids. Discerning evolutionary relationships among species in this family is essential for predicting biological attributes of species that impact agriculture globally. Completely resolved, well-supported phylogenies are necessary to develop a stable classification for the family, resulting in reliable retrieval of scientific information for included species. A new family tree, based on novel genomic data, is reported in this paper. The evolution of biological traits considered key innovations were reconstructed to explore what might have led to the hyperdiversity observed for this group. This paper is useful to scientists conducting research on these wasps, as well as pest management and regulatory personnel.

Technical Abstract: The parasitoid lifestyle is largely regarded as a key innovation that contributed to the evolutionary success and extreme species richness of the order Hymenoptera. Understanding the phylogenetic history of hyperdiverse parasitoid groups is a fundamental step in elucidating the evolution of biological traits linked to parasitoidism. We used a genomic-scale dataset based on ultra-conserved elements and the most comprehensive taxon sampling to date to estimate the evolutionary relationships of Braconidae, the second largest family of Hymenoptera. Based on our results, we propose the existence of 41 braconid subfamilies, confirmed a number of subfamilial placements and proposed subfamily-level taxonomic changes such as the restoration of Trachypetinae stat. rev. and Masoninae stat. rev. as braconid subfamilies, the confirmation, for the first time based on molecular data, of Apozyx penyai as the subfamily Apozyginae as well as the inclusion of Proteropinae stat. rev. as a non-cyclostome subfamily within the microgastroid complex. The correlation between koinobiosis and endoparasitoidism and idiobiosis with ectoparasitoidism, long been thought to be an important aspect in parasitoid life history, was formally tested and confirmed in a phylogenetic context. Using ancestral reconstruction methods based on both parsimony and maximum likelihood, we suggest that the ancestor of all Braconidae was a koinobiont endoparasitoid, as was that of the cyclostome sensu lato clade. Our results also provide strong evidence for one transition from endo- to ectoparasitoidism and three reversals back to endoparasitoidism within the cyclostome sensu stricto lineage. Transitions of koino- and idiobiosis were identical to that inferred for endo- versus ectoparasitoidism, except with one additional reversal back to koinobiosis in the small subfamily Rhysipolinae.