Topic: Phylogenomics of brood-pollinating weevils in tropical regions.
Doctoral school: University of Montpellier, GAIA
Dates: 1 October 2023 – 30 September 2026
CBGP supervisors: R. Allio & J. Haran

Benjamin is undertaking his PhD at the CBGP under the supervision of Rémi Allio (INRAE) and Julien Haran (CIRAD), with Benoît Nabholz (ISEM) as his supervisor. He is interested in the evolution of interactions between plants and weevils, such as changes in host plants and brood-site pollination systems, using a phylogenomic approach. In particular, recent work has shown the involvement of a genus (Endaeus) in brood-site pollination systems across several botanical families in tropical regions. Due to its extreme diversity and wide range of hosts, this genus is an ideal model for studying both a taxonomic group and a pollination mode that remain poorly understood.

Initially, a comparative genomics study will be conducted on around ten weevil genomes generated by the “Darwin Tree of Life” and the host team. A new set of loci will then be selected to be phylogenetically informative at the scale of this group of weevils. In a second phase, a phylogenomic study will be carried out on around a hundred Endaeus species to address the thesis’s research questions within the broader context of the evolution of mutualistic interactions.

Keywords: weevil, evolution of interactions, phylogenomics, pollination