Population Genomics of the Mostly Thelytokous Diplolepis rosae (Linnaeus, 1758) (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae) Reveals Population-specific Selection for Sex.

In Hymenoptera, arrhenotokous parthenogenesis (arrhenotoky) is a common reproductive mode. Thelytokous parthenogenesis (thelytoky), when virgin females produce only females, is less common and is found in several taxa. In our study, we assessed the efficacy of recombination and the effect of thelytoky on the genome structure of Diplolepis rosae, a gall wasp-producing bedeguars in dog roses. We assembled a high-quality reference genome using Oxford Nanopore long-read technology and sequenced 17 samples collected in France with high-coverage Illumina reads. We found two D. rosae peripatric lineages that differed in the level of recombination and homozygosity. One of the D. rosae lineages showed a recombination rate that was 13.2 times higher and per-individual heterozygosity that was 1.6 times higher. In the more recombining lineage, the genes enriched in functions related to male traits ('sperm competition", "insemination", and "copulation" gene ontology terms) showed signals of purifying selection, whereas in the less recombining lineage, the same genes showed traces pointing towards balancing or relaxed selection. Thus, although D. rosae reproduces mainly by thelytoky, selection may act to maintain sexual reproduction.

(© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.)