Journal of Phylogenetics & Evolutionary Biology

Haplotype Structure and Phylogeographic Evolution of West African Populations of Sitophilus zeamais (Coleoptera, Curculionidae)

Abstract

NDIAYE Mama Racky, THIAW Cheikh and Mbacké Sembène

Knowledge of spatial and temporal distribution of genetic variability within and between populations is a crucial step for establishing strategies management of stored crops and commodities to assure food safety. The maize weevil, Sitophilus zeamais, is known because of his extraordinary potential for destruction of stored cereals; but little is known about its phylogeography and population structure in Africa in general. This study aimed to determine phylogenic relationships and Phylogeographic structuring of maize weevil populations in West and Central Africa. After alignments and corrections, a total of 112 and 109 samples were used for analysis of Cytochrome B and Cytochrome oxidase I, respectively. The standard indices of genetic diversity, analyses of hierarchical molecular variance (AMOVA), haplotypic network, phylogenetic relationships, demographic tests and Nested Clade Phylogeographic Analysis (NPCA) were computed. Analysis of sequences revealed, with the concatenated matrix, for example, the presence of 30 haplotypes and a high level of haplotype diversity and low nucleotide diversity were observed in West Africa (h = 0.922 ± 0.023; π = 0.0067 ± 0.00116); but these both parameters were twice lower in Central Africa’s populations (h=0.512 ± 0.085; π =0.0034 ± 0.00083). The majority haplotype represented 43% of the overall population and connected West Africa to Central Africa. Maize weevil populations showed a genetic structure but indicated a lack of phylogeographic signal. They also showed that most of molecular variance was due to individual characteristics in a population (~60%); while a proportion of molecular divergence (8-14%) was related to a differentiation between two biogeographical regions in Sub-Saharan Africa. The latters were characterized by the presence of endemic haplotypes as well as common haplotypes. Analysis of mismatch distribution, neutrality tests and Bayesian inferences suggested the existence of 4 to 5 main clusters that had separated themselves from a bottleneck followed by a moderate demographic expansion since Pleistocene period.