Distribution of nuclear mitochondrial pseudogenes in three pollinator fig wasps associated with Ficus pumila

• Distribution of NUMTs among populations has been rarely studied.
• Cytb NUMTs were found in two of the three fig wasps that pollinate Ficus pumila.
• Basal NUMTs had either stop codons or frame-shifting mutations.
• Basal NUMTs were acquired before the three pollinators diverged.

Nuclear mitochondrial pseudogenes (NUMTs) are nuclear sequences transferred from mitochondrial genomes. Although widespread, their distribution patterns among populations or closely related species are rarely documented. We amplified and sequenced the mitochondrial cytochrome b (Cytb) gene to check for NUMTs in three fig wasp species that pollinate Ficus pumila (Wiebesia sp. 1, 2 and 3) in Southeastern China using direct and cloned sequencing. Unambiguous sequences (332) of 487 bp in length belonging to 33 haplotypes were found by direct sequencing. Their distribution was highly concordant with those of cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI). Obvious signs of co-amplification of NUMTs were indicated by their uneven distribution. NUMTs were observed in all individuals of 12 populations of Wiebesia sp. 3, and 13 individuals of three northern populations of Wiebesia sp. 1. Sequencing clones of potential co-amplification products confirmed that they were NUMTs. These NUMTs either clustered as NUMT clades basal to mtDNA Cytb clades (basal NUMTs), or together with Cytb haplotypes. Basal NUMTs had either stop codons or frame-shifting mutations resulting from deletion of a 106 bp fragment. In addition, no third codon or synonymous substitutions were detected within each NUMT clade. The phylogenetic tree indicated that basal NUMTs had been inserted into nuclei before divergence of the three species. No significant pairwise differences were detected in their ratios of third codon substitutions, suggesting that these NUMTs originated from one transfer event, with duplication in the nuclear genome resulting in the coexistence of the 381 bp copy. No significant substitution differences were detected between Cytb haplotypes and NUMTs that clustered with Cytb haplotypes. However, these NUMTs coexisted with Cytb haplotypes in multiple populations, suggesting that these NUMT haplotypes were recently inserted into the nuclear genome. Both basal and recently inserted NUMTs were rare events, and were absent in most populations of Wiebesia sp. 1 and 2. Further studies are needed to distinguish between mechanisms potentially generating this rarity, such as purifying selection, genetic drift or amplification failure.