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Research Articles

Similar phylogeographic history in a fig species and its obligate pollinators forms parallel genetic structure

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  • 1School of Life Sciences, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou 510006, China
    2Zhejiang Tiantong Forest Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
    3CEFE, CNRS, University of Montpellier, EPHE, IRD, Montpellier 34293, France
    4Ecological Security and Protection Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Mianyang Normal University, Mianyang 621000, China
    5Zhongfu Information Corporation, Jinan 250101, China
    6Shanghai Chenshan Plant Science Research Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chenshan Botanical Garden, Shanghai 201602, China
    7Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Shanghai 201403, China

    *Corresponding author. E-mail: rwang@des.ecnu.edu.cn (R.W.); xychen@des.ecnu.edu.cn (X.-Y.C.)
    These authors contributed equally to this work.

Received date: 2024-09-05

  Accepted date: 2024-12-30

  Online published: 2025-01-13

Supported by

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32171609, 32261123001) to X.-Y.C.

Abstract

Closely related and co-distributed species usually share a common phylogeographic history, but it remains unclear whether ecologically interacting species can respond synchronously to historical climate changes. Here, we focused on a fig–pollinator mutualism comprising Ficus pumila var. pumila and its obligate pollinators (morphospecies Wiebesia pumilae), and collected samples across most of their distribution ranges. We employed cytoplasmic DNA sequences and nuclear microsatellite loci to reveal the species composition within the pollinators and to test whether the two mutualists exhibited similar postglacial phylogeographic patterns. We identified three cryptic pollinator species, with two dominant cryptic species exhibiting parapatric distributions in the northern and southern parts of the plant’s range, respectively. Similar current spatial genetic structures were detected in the two dominant cryptic pollinator species and the host plant, with both showing eastern and western genetic clusters. Moreover, evidence for postglacial expansion was found for all three species, and their potential refugia during the Last Glacial Maximum were located in the eastern and western parts of their distribution ranges. These results suggest synchronous responses to historical climate changes. Our study demonstrates congruent phylogeographic patterns between obligate mutualists and highlights the role of biogeographic factors in shaping the current biodiversity across trophic levels.

Cite this article

Min Liu, Man-Juan Huang, Finn Kjellberg, Yan Chen, Jian Zhang, Rui Zhao, Yuan-Yuan Ding, Yang Yang, Jun-Yin Deng, Kai Jiang, Yuan-Yuan Li, Xin Tong, Tong Luo, Rong Wang, Xiao-Yong Chen . Similar phylogeographic history in a fig species and its obligate pollinators forms parallel genetic structure[J]. Journal of Plant Ecology, 2025 , 18(1) : 1 -15 . DOI: 10.1093/jpe/rtaf007

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