Landscapes drive the dispersal of Monochamus alternatus, vector of the
pinewood nematode, revealed by Whole-genome resequencing
Abstract
Pine wilt disease (PWD), Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, is an extremely
threatening invasion forest disease throughout the world, especially in
Asia. B. xylophilus is spread in Asia by vector beetles of Monochamus
alternatus, which has long no effective control method. Understanding of
landscape effects on the dispersal and outbreaks of forest pests is
crucial to establishing effective ecological control strategies. Here,
we analyzed the samples of M. alternatus collected at landscapes in
order to estimate the effects of landscape types on the genetic
structure and dispersal of M. alternatus. The landscapes included the
geographical scales, forest types and land uses. The individuals of M.
alternatus were genotyped by using whole-genome resequencing. Population
genetic structures were clearly differentiated at the intermediate
scale, suggesting the intermediate scale is an effective barrier against
natural dispersal of M. alternatus. We used the least-coat distances,
least-cost transect analysis, and distance-based redundancy analysis to
estimate the effects of forest types and land uses within the fine
scales. The results showed that the gene flow and genetic diversity were
positively correlated with host and mixed forests, whereas negatively
with non-host forests. Among land-use landscapes, the roads had the
positive effect on gene flow and genetic diversity but farmland and
urban uses had negative effects. This highlights that human-mediated
transport via roads was likely to be the main factor leading to the
long-distance invasion of M. alternatus, whereas non-host landscapes
could suppress the spread of this species. These findings may be useful
to control the PWD dispersed by M. alternatus.