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Aihara T, Araki K, Onuma Y, Cai Y, Paing AMM, Goto S, Hisamoto Y, Tomaru N, Homma K, Takagi M, Yoshida T, Iio A, Nagamatsu D, Kobayashi H, Hirota M, Uchiyama K, Tsumura Y. Divergent mechanisms of reduced growth performance in Betula ermanii saplings from high-altitude and low-latitude range edges. Heredity (Edinb) 2023; 131:387-397. [PMID: 37940658 PMCID: PMC10673911 DOI: 10.1038/s41437-023-00655-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2023] [Revised: 10/13/2023] [Accepted: 10/13/2023] [Indexed: 11/10/2023] Open
Abstract
The reduced growth performance of individuals from range edges is a common phenomenon in various taxa, and considered to be an evolutionary factor that limits the species' range. However, most studies did not distinguish between two mechanisms that can lead to this reduction: genetic load and adaptive selection to harsh conditions. To address this lack of understanding, we investigated the climatic and genetic factors underlying the growth performance of Betula ermanii saplings transplanted from 11 populations including high-altitude edge and low-latitude edge population. We estimated the climatic position of the populations within the overall B. ermanii's distribution, and the genetic composition and diversity using restriction-site associated DNA sequencing, and measured survival, growth rates and individual size of the saplings. The high-altitude edge population (APW) was located below the 95% significance interval for the mean annual temperature range, but did not show any distinctive genetic characteristics. In contrast, the low-latitude edge population (SHK) exhibited a high level of linkage disequilibrium, low genetic diversity, a distinct genetic composition from the other populations, and a high relatedness coefficient. Both APW and SHK saplings displayed lower survival rates, heights and diameters, while SHK saplings also exhibited lower growth rates than the other populations' saplings. The low heights and diameters of APW saplings was likely the result of adaptive selection to harsh conditions, while the low survival and growth rates of SHK saplings was likely the result of genetic load. Our findings shed light on the mechanisms underlying the reduced growth performance of range-edge populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takaki Aihara
- Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1, Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8577, Japan
| | - Kyoko Araki
- Garden Division, Maintenance and Works Department, the Imperial Household Agency, 1-1, Chiyoda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 100-8111, Japan
- Graduate School of Science and Technology, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1, Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8577, Japan
| | - Yunosuke Onuma
- Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1, Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8577, Japan
| | - Yihan Cai
- Graduate School of Environmental Science, Hokkaido University, Kita 10 Nishi 5, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan
| | - Aye Myat Myat Paing
- Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1, Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8657, Japan
| | - Susumu Goto
- Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1, Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8657, Japan
| | - Yoko Hisamoto
- Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1, Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8657, Japan
| | - Nobuhiro Tomaru
- Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Cikusa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi, 464-0804, Japan
| | - Kosuke Homma
- Sado Island Center for Ecological Sustainability, Niigata University, 1101-1, Niibokatagami, Sado, Niigata, 952-0103, Japan
| | - Masahiro Takagi
- Faculty of Agriculture, University of Miyazaki, 1-1, Gakuen kibanadai nishi, Miyazaki, Miyazaki, 889-2192, Japan
| | - Toshiya Yoshida
- Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere, Hokkaido University, Kita 10 Nishi 5, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan
| | - Atsuhiro Iio
- Graduate School of Integrated Science and Technology, Shizuoka University, 836, Ohtani, Suruga-ku, Shizuoka, Shizuoka, 422-8017, Japan
| | - Dai Nagamatsu
- Faculty of Agriculture, Tottori University, 4-101, Koyama-cho, Tottori, Tottori, 680-8553, Japan
| | - Hajime Kobayashi
- Faculty of Agriculture, Shinshu University, 8304, Minamiminowa-mura, Kamiina-gun, Nagano, 399-4598, Japan
| | - Mitsuru Hirota
- Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1, Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8577, Japan
| | - Kentaro Uchiyama
- Department of Forest Molecular Genetics and Biotechnology, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, 1, Matsunosato, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8687, Japan
| | - Yoshihiko Tsumura
- Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1, Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8577, Japan.
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Perrier A, Sánchez-Castro D, Willi Y. Environment dependence of the expression of mutational load and species' range limits. J Evol Biol 2022; 35:731-741. [PMID: 35290676 PMCID: PMC9314787 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13997] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2021] [Revised: 02/10/2022] [Accepted: 02/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Theoretical and empirical research on the causes of species’ range limits suggest the contribution of several intrinsic and extrinsic factors, with potentially complex interactions among them. An intrinsic factor proposed by recent theory is mutational load increasing towards range edges because of genetic drift. Furthermore, environmental quality may decline towards range edges and enhance the expression of load. Here, we tested whether the expression of mutational load associated with range limits in the North American plant Arabidopsis lyrata was enhanced under stressful environmental conditions by comparing the performance of within‐ versus between‐population crosses at common garden sites across the species’ distribution and beyond. Heterosis, reflecting the expression of load, increased with heightened estimates of genomic load and with environmental stress caused by warming, but the interaction was not significant. We conclude that range‐edge populations suffer from a twofold genetic Allee effect caused by increased mutational load and stress‐dependent load linked to general heterozygote deficiency, but there is no synergistic effect between them.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antoine Perrier
- Department of Biology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA.,Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | | | - Yvonne Willi
- Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
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Angert AL, Bontrager MG, Ågren J. What Do We Really Know About Adaptation at Range Edges? ANNUAL REVIEW OF ECOLOGY EVOLUTION AND SYSTEMATICS 2020. [DOI: 10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-012120-091002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Recent theory and empirical evidence have provided new insights regarding how evolutionary forces interact to shape adaptation at stable and transient range margins. Predictions regarding trait divergence at leading edges are frequently supported. However, declines in fitness at and beyond edges show that trait divergence has sometimes been insufficient to maintain high fitness, so identifying constraints to adaptation at range edges remains a key challenge. Indirect evidence suggests that range expansion may be limited by adaptive genetic variation, but direct estimates of genetic constraints at and beyond range edges are still scarce. Sequence data suggest increased genetic load in edge populations in several systems, but its causes and fitness consequences are usually poorly understood. The balance between maladaptive and positive effects of gene flow on fitness at range edges deserves further study. It is becoming increasingly clear that characterizations about degree of adaptation based solely on geographical peripherality are unsupported.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy L. Angert
- Departments of Botany and Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Megan G. Bontrager
- Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis, California 95616, USA
| | - Jon Ågren
- Department of Ecology and Genetics, Uppsala University, SE-752 36 Uppsala, Sweden
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Perrier A, Sánchez-Castro D, Willi Y. Expressed mutational load increases toward the edge of a species' geographic range. Evolution 2020; 74:1711-1723. [PMID: 32538471 DOI: 10.1111/evo.14042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2020] [Revised: 05/26/2020] [Accepted: 06/05/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
There is no general explanation for why species have restricted geographic distributions. One hypothesis posits that range expansion or increasing scarcity of suitable habitat results in accumulation of mutational load due to enhanced genetic drift, which constrains population performance toward range limits and further expansion. We tested this hypothesis in the North American plant, Arabidopsis lyrata. We experimentally assessed mutational load by crossing plants of 20 populations from across the entire species range and by raising the offspring of within- and between-population crosses at five common garden sites within and beyond the range. Offspring performance was tracked over three growing seasons. The heterosis effect, depicting expressed mutational load, was increased in populations with heightened genomic estimates of load, longer expansion distance or long-term isolation, and a selfing mating system. The decline in performance of within-population crosses amounted to 80%. Mutation accumulation due to past range expansion and long-term isolation of populations in the area of range margins is therefore a strong determinant of population-mean performance, and the magnitude of effect may be sufficient to cause range limits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antoine Perrier
- Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel, Basel, 4056, Switzerland
| | - Darío Sánchez-Castro
- Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel, Basel, 4056, Switzerland
| | - Yvonne Willi
- Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel, Basel, 4056, Switzerland
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