Multilocus evidence provides insight into the demographic history and asymmetrical gene flow between Ostrinia furnacalis and Ostrinia nubilalis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) in the Yili area, Xinjiang, China

Tianshan Mountain provides a model for studying biological evolution and speciation. Here we assess the evolutionary history of the Ostrinia furnacalis and Ostrinia nubilalis, which are sympatric in the Yili River Valley in Xinjiang, China.
Our study is based on the historical gene flow analyses of two species by using three mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA, COI & COII & Cytb) and four nuclear DNA (nuDNA, EF-1α & Wingless & RPS5 & CAD) markers obtained from representatives of HC (Huocheng), YN (Yining), XY (Xinyuan) and MNS (Manasi).
Our results reveal that there is a strong asymmetrical gene flow pattern between the four populations. The population migratory pathways between these different populations show inflow into HC and YN, outflow from XY, and that MNS maintained a flow balance. Bayesian divergence time dating based on the COI gene suggest the genetic divergence between the two species in this area may have occurred in the late-Pleistocene (0.003–0.0127 Mya). Neutr...