Toju Hirokazu, Sota Teiji
Research Institute of Genome-based Biofactory, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Tsukuba, Japan.
Mol Ecol. 2009 Sep;18(18):3940-54. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2009.04340.x. Epub 2009 Sep 1.
One of the major controversies in evolutionary biology concerns the processes underlying macroevolutionary patterns in which prolonged stasis is disrupted by rapid, short-term evolution that leads species to new adaptive zones. Recent advances in the understanding of contemporary evolution have suggested that such rapid evolution can occur in the wild as a result of environmental changes. Here, we examined a novel hypothesis that evolutionary stasis is punctuated by co-evolutionary arms races, which continuously alter adaptive peaks and landscapes. Based on the phylogeny of long-mouthed weevils in the genus Curculio, likelihood ratio tests showed that the macroevolutionary pattern of the weevils coincides with the punctuational evolution model. A coalescent analysis of a species, Curculio camelliae, the mouthpart of which has diverged considerably among populations because of an arms race with its host plant, further suggested that major evolutionary shifts had occurred within 7000 generations. Through a microevolutionary analysis of the species, we also found that natural selection acting through co-evolutionary interactions is potentially strong enough to drive rapid evolutionary shifts between adaptive zones. Overall, we posit that co-evolution is an important factor driving the history of organismal evolution.
进化生物学中的一个主要争议涉及宏观进化模式背后的过程，在这些模式中，长期的静态被快速的短期进化所打破，这种进化将物种带入新的适应区。对当代进化理解的最新进展表明，由于环境变化，这种快速进化可能在野外发生。在这里，我们研究了一个新的假说，即进化停滞被共同进化的军备竞赛所打断，军备竞赛不断改变适应峰和适应景观。基于Curculio属长口象鼻虫的系统发育，似然比检验表明象鼻虫的宏观进化模式与间断进化模型一致。对Curculio camelliae物种的溯祖分析进一步表明，由于与其寄主植物的军备竞赛，该物种的口器在种群间有很大差异，主要的进化转变发生在7000代以内。通过对该物种的微观进化分析，我们还发现通过共同进化相互作用起作用的自然选择可能强大到足以推动适应区之间的快速进化转变。总体而言，我们认为共同进化是推动生物进化历史的一个重要因素。
