Episodic positive selection at mitochondrial genome in an introduced biological control agent

Artificial introduction in classical biological control provides a unique opportunity to understand mitochondrial evolution driving adaptation to novel environments. We studied mitochondrial genomes of a world-wide introduced agent, Cryptolaemus montrouzieri. We detected positive selection in complex I genes (ND5 and ND4) against a background of widespread negative selection. We further detected significant signals in neutrality tests within 11 populations at ND5 gene, indicating a recent selective sweep/positive selection. Our results imply that these candidate mutations may contribute local adaptation of exotic biological control agents and these provide new insights into the improvement of classical biological control programs.