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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Systematic Entomology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #395160
Research Project: Systematics of Beetles, Flies, Moths and Wasps with an Emphasis on Agricultural Pests, Invasive Species, Biological Control Agents, and Food Security

Location: Systematic Entomology Laboratory

Title: A genome-wide phylogeny and the diversification of genus Liriomyza (Diptera: Agromyzidae) inferred from anchored phylogenomics

Author
item XUAN, JING-LI - North Carolina State University
item Scheffer, Sonja
item LONSDALE, O. - California Department Of Food And Agriculture
item CASSEL, BRIAN - North Carolina State University
item Lewis, Matthew
item EISEMAN, CHARLES - University Of Massachusetts
item LIU, WAN-XUE - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item WIEGMANN, BRIAN - North Carolina State University

Submitted to: Systematic Entomology Laboratory World Wide Web Site
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/25/2022
Publication Date: 9/15/2022
Citation: Xuan, J., Scheffer, S.J., Lonsdale, O., Cassel, B., Lewis, M.L., Eiseman, C., Liu, W., Wiegmann, B. 2022. A genome-wide phylogeny and the diversification of genus Liriomyza (Diptera: Agromyzidae) inferred from anchored phylogenomics. Systematic Entomology Laboratory World Wide Web Site. 48(1):178-197. https://doi.org/10.1111/syen.12569.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/syen.12569

Interpretive Summary: Invasive leafmining flies can feed on hundreds of crop species and varieties, typically causing millions of dollars in agricultural losses each year. This study of the evolutionary history of Liriomyza species finds that highly destructive species have evolved multiple times and that the evolution of broad feeding diets does not follow a predictable trajectory.

Technical Abstract: The genus Liriomyza Mik (Diptera: Agromyzidae) is a diverse and globally distributed group of acalyptrate flies. Phylogenetic relationships among Liriomyza species have remained incompletely investigated and have never been fully addressed using molecular data. Here, we reconstruct the phylogeny of the genus Liriomyza using various phylogenetic methods (maximum likelihood, Bayesian inference, and gene tree coalescence) on target-capture-based phylogenomic datasets (nucleotides and amino acids) obtained from anchored hybrid enrichment (AHE). We have recovered tree topologies that are nearly congruent across all data types and methods, and individual clade support is strong across all phylogenetic analyses. Moreover, defined morphological species groups and clades are well-supported in our best estimates of the molecular phylogeny. Liriomyza violivora (Spencer) is a sister group to all remaining sampled Liriomyza species, and the well-known polyphagous vegetable pests [L. huidobrensis (Blanchard), L. langei Frick, L. bryoniae (Kaltenbach), L. trifolii (Burgess), L. sativae Blanchard, and L. brassicae (Riley)] belong to multiple clades that are not particularly closely related on the trees. Often, closely related Liriomyza species feed on distantly related host plants. We reject the hypothesis that cophylogenetic processes between Liriomyza species and their host plants drive diversification in this genus. Instead, Liriomyza exhibits a widespread pattern of major host shifts across plant taxa. Our new phylogenetic estimate for Liriomyza species provides considerable new information on the evolution of host-use patterns in this genus. In addition, it provides a framework for further study of the morphology, ecology, and diversification of these important flies.