ORCID Profile
0000-0003-2206-9503
Current Organisations
University of California, Berkeley
,
Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University
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Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2019
DOI: 10.1016/J.YMPEV.2018.11.005
Abstract: Termites are the principal decomposers in tropical and subtropical ecosystems around the world. Time-calibrated molecular phylogenies show that some lineages of Neoisoptera ersified during the Oligocene and Miocene, and acquired their pantropical distribution through transoceanic dispersal events, probably by rafting in wood. In this paper, we intend to resolve the historical biogeography of one of the earliest branching lineages of Neoisoptera, the Rhinotermitinae. We used the mitochondrial genomes of 27 species of Rhinotermitinae to build two robust time-calibrated phylogenetic trees that we used to reconstruct the ancestral distribution of the group. Our analyses support the monophyly of Rhinotermitinae and all genera of Rhinotermitinae. Our molecular clock trees provided time estimations that erged by up to 15.6 million years depending on whether or not 3rd codon positions were included. Rhinotermitinae arose 50.4-64.6 Ma (41.7-74.5 Ma 95% HPD). We detected four disjunctions among biogeographic realms, the earliest of which occurred 41.0-56.6 Ma (33.0-65.8 Ma 95% HPD), and the latest of which occurred 20.3-34.2 Ma (15.9-40.4 Ma 95% HPD). These results show that the Rhinotermitinae acquired their distribution through a combination of transoceanic dispersals and dispersals across land bridges.
Publisher: Pensoft Publishers
Date: 22-06-2023
DOI: 10.3897/ZOOKEYS.1167.100001
Abstract: The neotropical Apicotermitinae is a common and widespread clade of mostly soil-feeding soldierless termites. With few exceptions, species of this group were originally assigned to the genus Anoplotermes Müller, 1873. The application of internal worker morphology coupled with genetic sequencing has recently shed light on the true ersity of this subfamily. Herein, Anoplotermes susanae Scheffrahn, Carrijo & Castro, sp. nov. and four new species in four new genera are described: Hirsutitermes kanzakii Scheffrahn, Carrijo & Castro, gen. nov. et sp. nov. , Krecekitermes daironi Scheffrahn, Carrijo & Castro, gen. nov. et sp. nov. , Mangolditermes curveileum Scheffrahn, Carrijo & Castro, gen. nov. et sp. nov. , and Ourissotermes giblinorum Scheffrahn, Carrijo & Castro, gen. nov. et sp. nov. Worker descriptions are based mainly on worker gut morphology, including the enteric valve, while imagoes were described based on external characters. A Bayesian phylogenetic tree of New World Apicotermitinae was constructed using the complete mitogenome to infer genera relationships and corroborate the taxonomic decisions. Distribution maps and a dichotomic key to the known Neotropical Apicotermitinae genera are provided.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-06-2021
DOI: 10.1111/SYEN.12486
Abstract: Soil‐feeding termites are abundant in tropical regions and play an important role in soil bioturbation and in the organic matter cycle. The Apicotermitinae are arguably the most erse lineage of soil‐feeding termites, but they are also the most understudied, probably because many species are soldierless, which makes identification difficult. Although the backbone of the termite phylogenetic tree is now well‐resolved, the relationships among representatives of Apicotermitinae are still largely unknown. Here, we present phylogenetic trees inferred from 113 mitochondrial genomes of Apicotermitinae representative of the group ersity. Our analyses confirm the monophyly of the Apicotermitinae and the basal position of soldiered taxa, within which two lineages of soldierless species are nested. We describe two new monotypic genera, whose phylogenetic position appeared of special interest: Koutabatermes gen. n. , lies on a long branch among soldiered taxa, and Apolemotermes gen. n. , is sister to Adaiphrotermes . We resolved, with high support, the position of Asian genera as sister group of a clade comprising the monophyletic neotropical Anoplotermes ‐group and the small African clade including Adaiphrotermes and Apolemotermes gen. n. . Our trees cast light on the intergeneric and interspecific relationships within Apicotermitinae and reveal the polyphyly of several genera, including Ruptitermes , Astalotermes and Anoplotermes . Biogeographic reconstructions revealed two dispersal events out of Africa, one to the Oriental realm and one to the Neotropical realm. Overall, the timing of Apicotermitinae ersification and dispersal, following the Eocene–Oligocene boundary, matches that found for other groups of Neoisoptera. Nomenclatural acts are registered in ZooBank: rn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:CA1A21B6‐573E‐4855‐8C88‐372453C922F7 .
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 05-2022
Abstract: Termites are major decomposers in terrestrial ecosystems and the second most erse lineage of social insects. The Kalotermitidae form the second-largest termite family and are distributed across tropical and subtropical ecosystems, where they typically live in small colonies confined to single wood items inhabited by in iduals with no foraging abilities. How the Kalotermitidae have acquired their global distribution patterns remains unresolved. Similarly, it is unclear whether foraging is ancestral to Kalotermitidae or was secondarily acquired in a few species. These questions can be addressed in a phylogenetic framework. We inferred time-calibrated phylogenetic trees of Kalotermitidae using mitochondrial genomes of ∼120 species, about 27% of kalotermitid ersity, including representatives of 21 of the 23 kalotermitid genera. Our mitochondrial genome phylogenetic trees were corroborated by phylogenies inferred from nuclear ultraconserved elements derived from a subset of 28 species. We found that extant kalotermitids shared a common ancestor 84 Ma (75–93 Ma 95% highest posterior density), indicating that a few disjunctions among early- erging kalotermitid lineages may predate Gondwana breakup. However, most of the ∼40 disjunctions among biogeographic realms were dated at & Ma, indicating that transoceanic dispersals, and more recently human-mediated dispersals, have been the major drivers of the global distribution of Kalotermitidae. Our phylogeny also revealed that the capacity to forage is often found in early- erging kalotermitid lineages, implying the ancestors of Kalotermitidae were able to forage among multiple wood pieces. Our phylogenetic estimates provide a platform for critical taxonomic revision and future comparative analyses of Kalotermitidae.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 21-04-2023
DOI: 10.1111/ECOG.06463
Abstract: Madagascar is home to many endemic plant and animal species owing to its ancient isolation from other landmasses. This unique fauna includes several lineages of termites, a group of insects known for their key role in organic matter decomposition in many terrestrial ecosystems. How and when termites colonised Madagascar remains unknown. In this study, we used 601 mitochondrial genomes, 93 of which were generated from Malagasy s les, to infer the global historical biogeography of Neoisoptera, a lineage containing more than 80% of described termite species. Our results indicate that Neoisoptera colonised Madagascar between 7 and 10 times independently during the Miocene, between 8.4 and 16.6 Ma (95% HPD: 6.1–19.9 Ma). This timing matches that of the colonization of Australia by Neoisoptera. Furthermore, the taxonomic composition of the Neoisopteran fauna of Madagascar and Australia are strikingly similar, with Madagascar harbouring an additional two lineages absent from Australia. Therefore, akin to Australia, Neoisoptera colonised Madagascar during the global expansion of grasslands, possibly helped by the ecological opportunities arising from the spread of this new biome.
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 03-12-2021
DOI: 10.1101/2021.12.01.470872
Abstract: Madagascar is home to many endemic plant and animal species owing to its ancient isolation from other landmasses. This unique fauna includes several lineages of termites, a group of insects known for their key role in organic matter decomposition in many terrestrial ecosystems. How and when termites colonised Madagascar remains unknown. In this study, we used 601 mitochondrial genomes, 93 of which were generated from Madagascan s les, to infer the global historical biogeography of Neoisoptera, a lineage containing upwards of 80% of described termite species. Our results indicate that Neoisoptera colonised Madagascar between seven to ten times independently during the Miocene, between 8.4-16.6 Ma (95% HPD: 6.1-19.9 Ma). This timing matches that of the colonization of Australia by Neoisoptera. Furthermore, the taxonomic composition of the Neoisopteran fauna of Madagascar and Australia are strikingly similar, with Madagascar harbouring an additional two lineages absent from Australia. Therefore, akin to Australia, Neoisoptera colonised Madagascar during the global expansion of grasslands, possibly helped by the ecological opportunities arising from the spread of this new biome.
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 03-12-2021
DOI: 10.1101/2021.12.02.471008
Abstract: Termites are social cockroaches distributed throughout warm temperate and tropical ecosystems. The ancestor of modern termites (crown-Isoptera) occurred during the earliest Cretaceous, approximately 140 million years ago, suggesting that both vicariance through continental drift and overseas dispersal may have shaped the distribution of early erging termite lineages. We reconstruct the historical biogeography of three early erging termite families – Stolotermitidae, Hodotermitidae, and Archotermopsidae – using the nuclear rRNA genes and mitochondrial genomes of 27 s les. Our analyses confirmed the monophyly of Stolotermitidae + Hodotermitidae + Archotermopsidae (clade Teletisoptera), with Stolotermitidae erging from a monophyletic Hodotermitidae + Archotermopsidae approximately 100.3 Ma (94.3–110.4 Ma, 95% HPD), and with Archotermopsidae paraphyletic to a monophyletic Hodotermitidae. The Oriental Archotermopsis and the Nearctic Zootermopsis erged 50.8 Ma (40.7–61.4 Ma, 95% HPD) before land connections between the Palearctic region and North America ceased to exist. The African Hodotermes + Microhodotermes erged from Anacanthotermes , a genus found in Africa and Asia, 32.1 Ma (24.8–39.9 Ma, 95% HPD), and the most recent common ancestor of Anacanthotermes lived 10.7 Ma (7.3–14.3 Ma, 95% HPD), suggesting that Anacanthotermes dispersed to Asia using the land bridge connecting Africa and Eurasia ∼18–20 Ma. In contrast, the common ancestors of modern Porotermes and Stolotermes lived 20.2 Ma (15.7–25.1 Ma, 95% HPD) and 26.6 Ma (18.3–35.6 Ma, 95% HPD), respectively, indicating that the presence of these genera in South America, Africa, and Australia involved over-water dispersals. Our results suggest that early erging termite lineages acquired their current distribution through a combination of over-water dispersals and dispersal via land bridges. We clarify the classification by resolving the paraphyly of Archotermopsidae, restricting the family to Archotermopsis and Zootermopsis , and elevating Hodotermopsinae ( Hodotermopsis ) as Hodotermopsidae ( status novum ).
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 10-12-2021
DOI: 10.1101/2021.12.09.472027
Abstract: The phylogenetic history of termites has been investigated using mitochondrial genomes and transcriptomes. However, both sets of markers have specific limitations. Mitochondrial genomes represent a single genetic marker likely to yield phylogenetic trees presenting incongruences with species trees, and transcriptomes can only be obtained from well-preserved s les. In contrast, ultraconserved elements (UCEs) include a great many independent markers that can be retrieved from poorly preserved s les. Here, we designed termite-specific baits targeting 50,616 UCE loci. We tested our UCE bait set on 42 s les of termites and three s les of Cryptocercus , for which we generated low-coverage highly-fragmented genome assemblies and successfully extracted in silico between 3,426 to 42,860 non-duplicated UCEs per s le. Our maximum likelihood phylogenetic tree, reconstructed using the 5,934 UCE loci retrieved from upward of 75% of s les, was congruent with transcriptome-based phylogenies, demonstrating that our UCE bait set is reliable and phylogenetically informative. Combined with non-destructive DNA extraction protocols, our UCE bait set provides the tool needed to carry out a global taxonomic revision of termites based on poorly preserved specimens such as old museum s les. The Termite UCE database is maintained at: ist/TER-UCE-DB/ .
Location: United States of America
Location: No location found
Location: Japan
No related grants have been discovered for menglin wang.