Hansen Allison K, Percy Diana M, Miao Sen, Degnan Patrick H
Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA.
Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Bc, Canada.
Genome Biol Evol. 2025 Jul 30;17(8). doi: 10.1093/gbe/evaf153.
Islands offer unique opportunities to study adaptive radiations and their impacts on host genome evolution. In Hawaiian Pariaconus psyllids, all species harbor the ancient nutritional symbiont Carsonella, while only free-living and open-gall species on younger islands host a second stable cosymbiont, Makana. In contrast, a third cosymbiont, Malihini, appears to be in an early stage of host restriction and genome degradation, making it a valuable model for understanding symbiont evolution during island radiations. Here, we examine Malihini genome evolution across multiple Pariaconus lineages using 16S rRNA sequencing, metagenomics, phylogenetic reconstruction, and microscopy. We find that Malihini is codiversifying with its hosts on the oldest island Kaua'i (kamua group; open- and closed-gall makers) and on the younger islands only in free-living species (bicoloratus group). Comparison of five Malihini genomes-including three newly assembled in this study-shows ongoing genome reduction from a large-genome ancestor (>3,900 protein-coding genes), likely driven by relaxed selection, vertical transmission bottlenecks, and island dispersal over the past 5 million years. On Kaua'i, the galling psyllids appear to depend more heavily on cosymbiont (Malihini) for the biosynthesis of amino acids and B-vitamins than galling species on younger islands-especially closed-gall species, which only have Carsonella. Surprisingly, free-living psyllids on younger islands with all three symbionts show metabolic reliance similar to Kaua'i gall makers. Together, our results demonstrate that island biogeography and host plant ecology shape symbiont losses and codiversification patterns. Malihini represents an early stage of symbiont genome degradation during host restriction, in sharp contrast to its more stable coresidents, Carsonella and Makana.
岛屿为研究适应性辐射及其对宿主基因组进化的影响提供了独特的机会。在夏威夷的Pariaconus木虱中,所有物种都携带着古老的营养共生体卡氏菌属(Carsonella),而只有较年轻岛屿上的自由生活和形成开放虫瘿的物种拥有第二种稳定的共栖共生体马卡纳菌属(Makana)。相比之下,第三种共栖共生体马利希尼菌属(Malihini)似乎正处于宿主限制和基因组退化的早期阶段,这使其成为理解岛屿辐射过程中共生体进化的宝贵模型。在这里,我们使用16S rRNA测序、宏基因组学、系统发育重建和显微镜技术,研究了多个Pariaconus谱系中马利希尼菌属的基因组进化。我们发现,马利希尼菌属与其宿主在最古老的考艾岛(卡穆阿组;形成开放和封闭虫瘿的物种)以及较年轻岛屿上仅在自由生活物种(双色组)中共同分化。对五个马利希尼菌属基因组的比较——包括本研究中新组装的三个基因组——显示,在过去500万年中,可能由于选择压力放松、垂直传播瓶颈和岛屿扩散,其基因组正从一个大基因组祖先(超过3900个蛋白质编码基因)持续减少。在考艾岛,形成虫瘿的木虱在氨基酸和B族维生素的生物合成方面似乎比年轻岛屿上形成虫瘿的物种更依赖共栖共生体(马利希尼菌属)——尤其是封闭虫瘿物种,它们只有卡氏菌属。令人惊讶的是,在拥有所有三种共生体的较年轻岛屿上,自由生活的木虱表现出与考艾岛形成虫瘿的物种相似的代谢依赖性。我们的研究结果共同表明,岛屿生物地理学和宿主植物生态学塑造了共生体丧失和共同分化模式。马利希尼菌属代表了宿主限制过程中共生体基因组退化的早期阶段,与其更稳定的共生伙伴卡氏菌属和马卡纳菌属形成鲜明对比。