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Analysing diversification dynamics using barcoding data: The case of an obligate mycorrhizal symbiont
Benoît Perez-Lamarque1,2, Maarja Öpik3, Odile Maliet1
1Institut de biologie de l'École normale supérieure (IBENS), École Normale Supérieure, CNRS, INSERM, Université PSL, Paris, France.
Molecular Ecology
|April 22, 2022
Summary
Glomeromycotina fungi, crucial symbionts for plants, show low speciation rates and a decline in new species formation over the last 100 million years, possibly due to niche limitations.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary Biology
- Mycology
- Symbiosis Research
Background:
- Understanding clade diversification is vital for explaining biodiversity.
- Microscopic fungal groups, like Glomeromycotina, present unique challenges for evolutionary analysis.
- Glomeromycotina are ancient, essential symbionts providing nutrients to most land plants.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the diversification dynamics of Glomeromycotina over the past 500 million years.
- To investigate speciation rates and patterns in this important fungal subphylum.
- To explore potential drivers of diversification changes in Glomeromycotina.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the largest global database of small subunit (SSU) rRNA gene sequences for Glomeromycotina.
- Conducted extensive sensitivity analyses and simulations to mitigate data biases.
- Applied phylogenetic methods to reconstruct diversification history.
Main Results:
- Glomeromycotina exhibit significantly lower speciation rates compared to other eukaryotes.
- A peak in Glomeromycotina speciation occurred between 200 and 100 million years ago.
- A notable decline in speciation rates towards the present was observed.
Conclusions:
- Diversification patterns in Glomeromycotina suggest a history of low speciation, potentially linked to niche constraints.
- The decline in speciation may be influenced by shrinking mycorrhizal niches and limited colonization ability.
- Short molecular markers and rigorous sensitivity analyses are effective for studying microbial diversification.
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