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Schell ER, Scott GR, Dawson NJ, Winker K, McCracken KG. Consistent changes in muscle phenotype and mitochondrial abundance underlie dive performance across multiple lineages of diving ducks. J Exp Biol 2024; 227:jeb247550. [PMID: 38989552 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.247550] [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: 02/21/2024] [Accepted: 07/01/2024] [Indexed: 07/12/2024]
Abstract
Diving animals must sustain high muscle activity with finite oxygen (O2) to forage underwater. Studies have shown that some diving mammals exhibit changes in the metabolic phenotype of locomotory muscles compared with non-divers, but the pervasiveness of such changes across diving animals is unclear, particularly among diving birds. Here, we examined whether changes in muscle phenotype and mitochondrial abundance are associated with dive capacity across 17 species of ducks from three distinct evolutionary clades (tribes) in the subfamily Anatinae: the longest diving sea ducks, the mid-tier diving pochards and the non-diving dabblers. In the gastrocnemius (the primary swimming and diving muscle), mitochondrial volume density in both oxidative and glycolytic fiber types was 70% and 30% higher in sea ducks compared with dabblers, respectively. These differences were associated with preferential proliferation of the subsarcolemmal subfraction, the mitochondria adjacent to the cell membrane and nearest to capillaries, relative to the intermyofibrillar subfraction. Capillary density and capillary-to-fiber ratio were positively correlated with mitochondrial volume density, with no variation in the density of oxidative fiber types across tribes. In the pectoralis, sea ducks had greater abundance of oxidative fiber types than dabblers, whereas pochards were intermediate between the two. These data suggest that skeletal muscles of sea ducks have a heightened capacity for aerobic metabolism and an enhanced ability to utilize O2 stores in the blood and muscle while diving.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Graham R Scott
- Department of Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8S 4K1, Canada
| | - Neal J Dawson
- School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
| | - Kevin Winker
- University of Alaska Museum, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA
| | - Kevin G McCracken
- Department of Biology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33146, USA
- University of Alaska Museum, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA
- Department of Marine Biology and Ecology, Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33149, USA
- Human Genetics and Genomics, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL 33136, USA
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2
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Aguillon SM, Haase Cox SK, Langdon QK, Gunn TR, Baczenas JJ, Banerjee SM, Donny AE, Moran BM, Gutiérrez-Rodríguez C, Ríos-Cárdenas O, Morris MR, Powell DL, Schumer M. Pervasive gene flow despite strong and varied reproductive barriers in swordtails. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.04.16.589374. [PMID: 38659793 PMCID: PMC11042374 DOI: 10.1101/2024.04.16.589374] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/26/2024]
Abstract
One of the mechanisms that can lead to the formation of new species occurs through the evolution of reproductive barriers. However, recent research has demonstrated that hybridization has been pervasive across the tree of life even in the presence of strong barriers. Swordtail fishes (genus Xiphophorus) are an emerging model system for studying the interface between these barriers and hybridization. We document overlapping mechanisms that act as barriers between closely related species, X. birchmanni and X. cortezi, by combining genomic sequencing from natural hybrid populations, artificial crosses, behavioral assays, sperm performance, and developmental studies. We show that strong assortative mating plays a key role in maintaining subpopulations with distinct ancestry in natural hybrid populations. Lab experiments demonstrate that artificial F1 crosses experience dysfunction: crosses with X. birchmanni females were largely inviable and crosses with X. cortezi females had a heavily skewed sex ratio. Using F2 hybrids we identify several genomic regions that strongly impact hybrid viability. Strikingly, two of these regions underlie genetic incompatibilities in hybrids between X. birchmanni and its sister species X. malinche. Our results demonstrate that ancient hybridization has played a role in the origin of this shared genetic incompatibility. Moreover, ancestry mismatch at these incompatible regions has remarkably similar consequences for phenotypes and hybrid survival in X. cortezi × X. birchmanni hybrids as in X. malinche × X. birchmanni hybrids. Our findings identify varied reproductive barriers that shape genetic exchange between naturally hybridizing species and highlight the complex evolutionary outcomes of hybridization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stepfanie M. Aguillon
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- Centro de Investigaciones Científicas de las Huastecas “Aguazarca”, A.C., Calnali, Hidalgo, México
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | | | - Quinn K. Langdon
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- Centro de Investigaciones Científicas de las Huastecas “Aguazarca”, A.C., Calnali, Hidalgo, México
- Gladstone Institute of Virology, Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Theresa R. Gunn
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- Centro de Investigaciones Científicas de las Huastecas “Aguazarca”, A.C., Calnali, Hidalgo, México
| | | | - Shreya M. Banerjee
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- Center for Population Biology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA
| | | | - Benjamin M. Moran
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- Centro de Investigaciones Científicas de las Huastecas “Aguazarca”, A.C., Calnali, Hidalgo, México
| | | | - Oscar Ríos-Cárdenas
- Red de Biología Evolutiva, Instituto de Ecología A.C., Xalapa, Veracruz, México
| | - Molly R. Morris
- Department of Biological Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, USA
| | - Daniel L. Powell
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- Centro de Investigaciones Científicas de las Huastecas “Aguazarca”, A.C., Calnali, Hidalgo, México
| | - Molly Schumer
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- Centro de Investigaciones Científicas de las Huastecas “Aguazarca”, A.C., Calnali, Hidalgo, México
- Freeman Hrabowski Fellow, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, Maryland, USA
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Schell ER, McCracken KG, Scott GR, White J, Lavretsky P, Dawson NJ. Consistent changes in muscle metabolism underlie dive performance across multiple lineages of diving ducks. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20231466. [PMID: 37752838 PMCID: PMC10523079 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.1466] [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: 06/28/2023] [Accepted: 08/30/2023] [Indexed: 09/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Diving animals must sustain high activity with limited O2 stores to successfully capture prey. Studies suggest that increasing body O2 stores supports breath-hold diving, but less is known about metabolic specializations that underlie underwater locomotion. We measured maximal activities of 10 key enzymes in locomotory muscles (gastrocnemius and pectoralis) to identify biochemical changes associated with diving in pathways of oxidative and substrate-level phosphorylation and compared them across three groups of ducks-the longest diving sea ducks (eight spp.), the mid-tier diving pochards (three spp.) and the non-diving dabblers (five spp.). Relative to dabblers, both diving groups had increased activities of succinate dehydrogenase and cytochrome c oxidase, and sea ducks further showed increases in citrate synthase (CS) and hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase (HOAD). Both diving groups had relative decreases in capacity for anaerobic metabolism (lower ratio of lactate dehydrogenase to CS), with sea ducks also showing a greater capacity for oxidative phosphorylation and lipid oxidation (lower ratio of pyruvate kinase to CS, higher ratio of HOAD to hexokinase). These data suggest that the locomotory muscles of diving ducks are specialized for sustaining high rates of aerobic metabolism, emphasizing the importance of body O2 stores for dive performance in these species.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Kevin G. McCracken
- Department of Biology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33146, USA
- Department of Marine Biology and Ecology, Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33149, USA
- Human Genetics and Genomics, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL 33136, USA
- University of Alaska Museum, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA
| | - Graham R. Scott
- Department of Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8S 4K1
| | - Jeff White
- Department of Biology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33146, USA
| | - Philip Lavretsky
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Texas El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968, USA
| | - Neal J. Dawson
- School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK
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Lavretsky P, Mohl JE, Söderquist P, Kraus RHS, Schummer ML, Brown JI. The meaning of wild: Genetic and adaptive consequences from large-scale releases of domestic mallards. Commun Biol 2023; 6:819. [PMID: 37543640 PMCID: PMC10404241 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-05170-w] [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: 10/25/2022] [Accepted: 07/24/2023] [Indexed: 08/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The translocation of individuals around the world is leading to rising incidences of anthropogenic hybridization, particularly between domestic and wild congeners. We apply a landscape genomics approach for thousands of mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) samples across continental and island populations to determine the result of over a century of supplementation practices. We establish that a single domestic game-farm mallard breed is the source for contemporary release programs in Eurasia and North America, as well as for established feral populations in New Zealand and Hawaii. In particular, we identify central Europe and eastern North America as epicenters of ongoing anthropogenic hybridization, and conclude that the release of game-farm mallards continues to affect the genetic integrity of wild mallards. Conversely, self-sustaining feral populations in New Zealand and Hawaii not only show strong differentiation from their original stock, but also signatures of local adaptation occurring in less than a half-century since game-farm mallard releases have ceased. We conclude that 'wild' is not singular, and that even feral populations are capable of responding to natural processes. Although considered paradoxical to biological conservation, understanding the capacity for wildness among feral and feral admixed populations in human landscapes is critical as such interactions increase in the Anthropocene.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philip Lavretsky
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, 79668, USA.
| | - Jonathon E Mohl
- Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, 79668, USA
| | - Pär Söderquist
- Faculty of Natural Sciences, Kristianstad University, SE- 291 88, Kristianstad, Sweden
| | - Robert H S Kraus
- Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, 78315, Radolfzell, Germany
| | - Michael L Schummer
- Department of Environmental Biology, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY, 13210, USA
| | - Joshua I Brown
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, 79668, USA
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Rohwer S, Wood CS, Peters JL, Miller ET, Cagley D, Butcher BG, Epperly KL, Campagna L. Interspecific forced copulations generate most hybrids in broadly sympatric ducks. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0274059. [PMID: 36126057 PMCID: PMC9488771 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0274059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2022] [Accepted: 08/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Although rare, hybrids are more common in broadly sympatric waterfowl than in any other avian family; yet, the behavioral ecology explaining their generation has remained controversial. Leading hypotheses are forced interspecific copulations, mis-imprinting caused by mixed broods, and scarcity of conspecific mates. Using a large sample of hybrid ducks solicited from North American hunters we evaluated these hypotheses by genetically determining the mother and father species of F1 hybrids. Based on abundances in areas where their breeding ranges overlap, the frequency of hybrids varied greatly from expectations, with hybrids between species within recently derived clades being much more frequent than those between more divergent clades. Forced copulations, as measured by large phallus-length asymmetries between parentals, strongly predicted the father species of most F1 hybrids. Thus, most Anas acuta x A. platyrhynchos (Northern Pintail x Mallard) F1s were sired by A. acuta, and most A. platyrhynchos x Mareca strepera (Mallard x Gadwall) F1s were sired by A. platyrhynchos. Siring asymmetries were consistent with phallus length asymmetries in five additional parental combinations, but none had samples large enough to be individually statistically significant. The exception to this trend was our sample of nine A. platyrhynchos x Mareca americana (Mallard x Gadwall) F1s, for which a large phallus asymmetry failed to predict the father species. Hybrids were rare in brood parasitic species, suggesting mis-imprinting to be an unlikely cause of most hybrids; however, our samples of hybrids from regular brood parasites were inadequate to strongly address this hypothesis. We could test the scarcity of mates hypothesis for only a single hybrid combination and it contradicted our prediction: most F1M. Penelope x M. americana (Eurasian x American Wigeon) were sired by M. penelope, strongly contradicting our prediction that female M. penelope wintering in enormous flocks of M. americana (American Wigeon) on the west coast of North America would have difficulty finding conspecific mates. In general, our results support interspecific forced copulations as the predominant behavioral mechanism generating hybrids in North temperate waterfowl.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sievert Rohwer
- Department of Biology and Burke Museum, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Christopher S. Wood
- Burke Museum, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
| | - Jefferey L. Peters
- Department of Biological Sciences, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio, United States of America
| | | | - David Cagley
- Independent Researcher, Myrtle Point, Oregon, United States of America
| | - Bronwyn G. Butcher
- Fuller Evolutionary Biology Program, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York, United States of America
| | - Kevin L. Epperly
- Burke Museum, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
| | - Leonardo Campagna
- Fuller Evolutionary Biology Program, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York, United States of America
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America
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Miller MWC, Lovvorn JR, Graff NR, Stellrecht NC. Use of marine vs. freshwater proteins for egg‐laying and incubation by sea ducks breeding in Arctic tundra. Ecosphere 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.4138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Micah W. C. Miller
- School of Biological Sciences Southern Illinois University Carbondale Illinois USA
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Fairbanks Fish and Wildlife Field Office Fairbanks Alaska USA
| | - James R. Lovvorn
- School of Biological Sciences Southern Illinois University Carbondale Illinois USA
| | - Nathan R. Graff
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Fairbanks Fish and Wildlife Field Office Fairbanks Alaska USA
- Department of Biology and Wildlife University of Alaska Fairbanks Fairbanks Alaska USA
| | - Neesha C. Stellrecht
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Fairbanks Fish and Wildlife Field Office Fairbanks Alaska USA
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Brown JI, Harrigan RJ, Lavretsky P. Evolutionary and Ecological Drivers of Local Adaptation and Speciation in a North American Avian Species Complex. Mol Ecol 2022; 31:2578-2593. [PMID: 35263000 DOI: 10.1111/mec.16423] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2021] [Revised: 01/31/2022] [Accepted: 02/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Throughout the speciation process, genomic divergence can be differentially impacted by selective pressures, as well as gene flow and genetic drift. Disentangling the effects of these evolutionary mechanisms remains challenging, especially for non-model organisms. Accounting for complex evolutionary histories and contemporary population structure often requires sufficient sample sizes, for which the expense of full genomes remains prohibitive. Here, we demonstrate the utility of partial-genome sequence data for range-wide samples to shed light into the divergence process of two closely related ducks, the Mexican duck (Anas diazi) and mallard (A. platyrhynchos). We determine the role of selective and neutral processes during speciation of Mexican ducks by integrating evolutionary and demographic modelling with genotype-environment and genotype-phenotype association testing. First, evolutionary models and demographic analyses support the hypothesis that Mexican ducks originally diverged ~300,000 years ago in a climate refugia arising during a glacial period in in a southwestern North America, and that subsequent environmental selective pressures played a key role in divergence. Mexican ducks then showed cyclical demographic patterns that likely reflected repeated range expansions and contractions, along with bouts of gene flow with mallards during glacial cycles. Finally, we provide evidence that sexual selection acted on several phenotypic traits as a co-evolutionary process, facilitating the development of reproductive barriers that initially arose due to strong ecological selection. More broadly, this work reveals that the genomic and phenotypic patterns observed across species complexes are the result of myriad factors that contribute in dynamic ways to the evolutionary trajectories of a lineage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joshua I Brown
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, 79668, USA
| | - Ryan J Harrigan
- Center for Tropical Research, University of California, Los Angeles, La Kretz Hall, Suite 300, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, U.S.A
| | - Philip Lavretsky
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, 79668, USA
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Päckert M. No hybrid snowcocks in the Altai-Hyper-variable markers can be problematic for phylogenetic inference. Ecol Evol 2021; 11:16354-16364. [PMID: 34824832 PMCID: PMC8601899 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8199] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2021] [Revised: 08/24/2021] [Accepted: 09/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
A recent article in Ecology and Evolution featured the discovery of hybrid snowcocks (Tetraogallus) and speculated on the hybrid origin of an extant species (T. altaicus). Comprehensive re-analyses of original data from the latter paper reliably refute the phylogenetic hypothesis taken as firm evidence of a past hybridization event in these birds. The new re-analyses showed that there is no evidence of hybridization in these snowcocks from the data available so far.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Päckert
- Senckenberg Natural History Collections Museum of Zoology Dresden Germany
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