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N° Ordre : 3517 THÈSE Présentée DEVANT L N° Ordre : 3517 THÈSE Présentée DEVANT L’UNIVERSITÉ DE RENNES 1 Pour obtenir Le grade de : DOCTEUR DE L’UNIVERSITÉ DE RENNES 1 Mention : Biologie PAR Myriam BARAT Equipe d’accueil : U.M.R. C.N.R.S 6553, Equipe Interaction Spéciation Adaptation (ISA) Ecole Doctorale : "Vie-Agro-Santé" Composante Universitaire : U.F.R. Sciences de la Vie et de l’Environnement INTERACTIONS PLANTE -INSECTE , SPECIALISATION ET INVASION BIOLOGIQUE : ECOLOGIE EVOLUTIVE DES AJONCS (GENRE ULEX ) ET DE LEURS CHARANÇONS SPECIFIQUES (GENRE EXAPION ) EN BRETAGNE . SOUTENUE LE 9 mars 2007 devant la commission d’Examen M. Jean-Claude GREGOIRE Professeur, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgique Rapporteur M. Marc GIBERNAU Chargé de Recherche CNRS, Université de Toulouse 3 Rapporteur Mme Anne-Marie CORTESERO Professeur, Université de Rennes 1 Examinatrice M. Jacques VAN ALPHEN Professeur, Institute of Biology, Leiden, Pays Bas Examinateur Mme Anne ATLAN Chargé de Recherche CNRS, Université de Rennes 1 Directrice Mme Michèle TARAYRE Maître de conférence, Université de Rennes 1 Co-directrice Résumé Les trois espèces d'ajonc qui co-existent en Bretagne, sont toutes parasitées par des charançons prédateurs de graines. L'une d'entre elles, Ulex europaeus , est une plante envahissante qui constitue une nuisance pour l'agriculture et une menace pour la biodiversité. Le charançon Exapion ulicis a été introduit comme agent de lutte biologique depuis les années 1930, mais son efficacité est limitée par le fait qu'il ne pond qu'au printemps, alors que la plante peut produire des gousses dès l'automne. La première partie de cette thèse présente ma contribution à l'étude à long terme d' Ulex europaeus en Bretagne, dont le but est d'étudier les relations entre la phénologie de floraison et les stratégies de défense contre les phytophages (évitement dans le temps, satiété du prédateur). Cette étude a montré que la pression parasitaire a un impact important pour la plante, ce qui peut expliquer que dans les zones envahies, où les prédateurs spécifiques sont absents, elle puisse avoir des capacités compétitrices accrues. Dans la deuxième partie, j'ai élargi cette étude aux deux autres espèces d’ajonc présentes en Bretagne : U. gallii et U. minor . Ces espèces, qui sont souvent en sympatrie avec U. europaeus et ne fleurissent qu'en automne, sont parasitées par des charançons. J'ai identifié ces charançons à l'aide de caractères morphologiques et moléculaires. La caractérisation morphologique des charançons a permis d’identifier l’espèce qui pond en automne comme étant Exapion lemovicinum . La caractérisation moléculaire a permis de vérifier qu'une seule et même espèce parasitait U. gallii et U. minor, et que E. lemovicinum et E. ulicis constituaient bien deux espèces distinctes, incapables de s'hybrider. Des observations de terrain ont permis de décrire le cycle de vie de ces deux charançons et de montrer qu’il était intimement lié à la phénologie de leur plante-hôte. Enfin, une étude écophysiologique de cryobiologie a permis de montrer que les potentialités de résistance au froid de ces deux espèces avaient divergé avec leur cycle de vie. La spécialisation écologique des charançons, liée à la phénologie des ajoncs, est donc probablement à l’origine de leur différenciation, qui aurait pu s'effectuer par séparation dans le temps via le processus de spéciation sympatrique. Abstract Three gorse species co-exist in Brittany, all of them being parasitised by seed-eating weevils. One of the gorse species, Ulex europaeus , is an invasive plant that is a nuisance for agriculture and a threat to biodiversity. The weevil Exapion ulicis was introduced as a biological control agent from the 1930s, but its effectiveness is limited because it only lays eggs in spring, whereas the plant can produce pods from autumn onwards. The first part of this thesis is my contribution to a long-term study of Ulex europaeus in Brittany, aiming to examine the relations between the flowering phenology and defence strategies against phytophagous insects (avoidance in time, predator satiety). This study has shown that the parasite pressure has a major impact for the plant, which can explain the areas invaded; where specific grazers are absent, it can have an increased competitive advantage. In the second part, I have enlarged this study to two other gorse species that occur in Brittany: U. gallii and U. minor . These species, which are often sympatric with U. europaeus and only flower in the autumn, are also parasitised by weevils. I have identified these weevils by using morphological and molecular characters. The morphological identification of the weevils identified the species that lays in autumn as Exapion lemovicinum . The molecular identification confirmed that only a single species parasitised U. gallii and U. minor, and that E. lemovicinum and E. ulicis are two true distinct species, incapable of hybridising. Field observations have enabled the life cycle of these two weevils to be described and have demonstrated that they are intimately linked to the phenology of their host plant. Finally, a ecophysiological cryobiology study has shown that cold resistance of these two species has diverged with their life cycle. The ecological specialisation of the weevils, related to the gorse phenology, is therefore probably the origin of their differentiation, which could have taken place by temporal isolation by means of a process of sympatric speciation. SOMMAIRE Introduction générale 1 1. Les plantes envahissantes et les insectes phytophages 1 2. Evolution des associations plante-insecte phytophage 3 3. Plan de la thèse 6 Chapitre I. Synthèse bibliographique sur les relations plante-charançon 7 1. Spécificité d’hôte 9 2. Sélection de la plante-hôte 12 3. "Course à l’armement" entre plantes et charançons ? 15 4. Conclusion 18 Chapitre II. Présentation des espèces 20 1. Ulex europaeus , Ulex gallii et Ulex minor 20 2. Exapion ulicis et Exapion lemovicinum 24 3. Echantillonnage et élevage 27 Chapitre III. Impact de la pression parasitaire sur la phénologie d' U. europaeus 29 1. Diversité phénologie de floraison d’ U. europaeus en Bretagne 31 2. Variations temporelles de la phénologie et du parasitisme 34 3. Mise en évidence du déterminisme génétique des traits d’histoire de vie d’ U. 38 europaeus 4. Polymorphisme d’ U. europaeus dans les zones envahies 39 Chapitre IV. Cycles de vie des apions en relation avec la phénologie des ajoncs 42 IV. A. Rôle de la phénologie de floraison des ajoncs sur le cycle de vie des apions 46 (Article accepté dans Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata ) IV. B. Observations préliminaires du comportement des apions 65 1. Observations qualitatives 65 2. Observations quantitatives 66 3. Bilan 68 Chapitre V. Différenciation génétique des apions 69 V. A. Différenciation génétique et spécialisation écologique des apions 70 (Article en préparation pour Ecography ) V. B. Recherche de marqueurs moléculaires polymorphes chez les apions 88 1. Marqueurs microsatellites 88 2. Marqueurs RAPD 91 3. Marqueurs ITS 91 Chapitre VI. La résistance au froid chez les apions et chez les ajoncs 92 VI. A. Quelques notions sur la résistance au froid 93 1. L’étude de la résistance au froid 93 2. Quelques définitions autour de l’eau 94 VI. B. La résistance au froid chez les apions et chez les ajoncs 95 (Projet d'article ) Discussion générale et perspectives 114 A. Impact de la pression parasitaire sur la phénologie d' U. europaeus 114 B. L'interaction ajonc-apion en Bretagne 115 1. Identification des deux espèces de charançon 115 2. Spécificité d'hôte 116 3. Spécialisation et spéciation sympatrique 119 Références bibliographiques 123 Annexes 1. Exemples d’impact d’ U. europaeus et d’ E. ulicis 138 2. Critères d’identification d’ Exapion ulicis et d’ E. lemovicinum 139 3. Tarayre et al. Evolutionary Ecology : in press 140 4. Atlan et al. soumis à Journal of Ecology 142 5. Premières observations des apions 165 6. Récapitulatif des principales données obtenues 166 Articles et colloques 167 Remerciements Anne, Michèle, je tiens à vous remercier pour m’avoir toujours écoutée et respectée pendant ces années, en me laissant notamment le choix de travailler plus particulièrement sur ces incroyables et magnifiques (il faut le dire) charançons plutôt que sur ces ajoncs piquants ! Merci également pour votre générosité et votre disponibilité (surtout en fin de thèse !). Anne, heureusement que tu as un esprit synthétique, qui me manque tellement, mais que j’essaye toujours d’améliorer ! Merci aussi de m’avoir donné l’occasion de partir en Nouvelle-Zélande, et de découvrir un des plus beaux endroits au monde, Kaikoura… Louis, je tiens à te remercier chaleureusement, pour m’avoir accompagnée sur le terrain et m’avoir aidée dès que j’en avais besoin. Merci pour tes discussions engagées, si il y avait d’avantage de Louis sur Terre, le monde serait très certainement meilleur ! Papa, Maman, Nathalie, je tiens à vous remercier pour votre soutien et la confiance que vous m’avez témoignée que ce soit pendant ces années de thèse ou avant. Sans vous, je ne serais probablement pas arrivée jusqu’ici. Nico, merci de m’avoir soutenue toutes ces années, malgré le stress, nombreux sont ceux qui savent ce que cela représente et que ce n’était pas une tâche facile ! Je n’oublie pas non plus, toutes les personnes qui ont partagé mon stress et mes interrogations à l’Université : Sandrine, que dire, on se comprend parfaitement, tu pourrais être ma jumelle ! Alors merci pour ton soutien, ton écoute et courage, c’est bientôt fini pour toi aussi ! Nathalie, même du Canada, je sais que je peux compter sur toi, merci pour ta bonne humeur et ton optimisme. Pierre, merci d’avoir été là, bien que nous étions toujours démoralisés en même temps, du coup, il n’y en avait pas un pour remonter le moral de l’autre ! J’espère que la voie que tu as choisie te réussira.
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