Breeding site fidelity and winter admixture in a long-distance migrant, the tufted duck (Aythya fuligula)

Legacy parasite collections reveal species-specific population genetic patterns among three species of zoonotic schistosomes

Studies estimating genetic diversity and population structure in multi-host parasites are often constrained by temporally and spatially limited sampling. This study addresses these limitations by analyzing globally distributed samples of three congeneric avian schistosomes (Trematoda: Schistosomatidae: Trichobilharzia), including collections spanning 20 years archived at The Museum of Southwestern Biology, Parasites Division. The three species exhibited significant differences in population genetic parameters across one nuclear and two mitochondrial loci. Trichobilharzia querquedulae (TQ) maintained a well-connected, globally diverse metapopulation, with an effective population size approximately three times larger than that of the other two species, T. physellae (TP) and Trichobilharzia sp. A (TA). TP and TA had lower overall genetic diversity and greater population structure. These differences are likely shaped by the ecologies of the duck definitive hosts that disperse these parasites. This study highlights the value of natural history collections, particularly since Trichobilharzia is a key agent of zoonotic cercarial dermatitis, a disease whose etiology and epidemiology remain poorly understood. Within a comparative congeneric framework, population genetic data can provide insights into host-parasite natural history and its influence on microevolutionary patterns, including contributions to zoonotic disease.

Evaluation of genetic diversity and population structure in four indigenous duck breeds in Vietnam

This study characterized genetic diversity and population structure of four indigenous Vietnamese duck breeds and an exotic breed for setting the conservation priority. A total of 200 samples from four duck breeds (Sincheng, Minhhuong, Muongchieng and Bauben) and an exotic breed (Supermeat) were genotyped for fifteen microsatellite markers. The average number of alleles per locus was 14.07. A moderate genetic diversity was observed for indigenous breeds as mean of observed and expected heterozygosity as Ho = 0.50 and He = 0.57, respectively. The Bauben had the lowest values of Ho (0.41) and He (0.48) while Sincheng had the highest values of Ho (0.6) and He (0.69), respectively. The inbreeding coefficients (F_IS) ranged from 0.12 to 0.16, and all breeds were significantly under heterozygote deficit. Nei's genetic distance was the shortest between Minhhuong and Muongkhieng. The discriminant analysis of principal components of studied breeds resulted in four genetic clusters. The Minhhuong and Muongkhieng breeds joined the same genetic cluster while other breeds had their own clusters. These results indicated that the possibility to combine Minhhuong and Muongkhieng for reducing the cost of conservation and suggested that conservation of the Bauben should be prioritized to avoid inbreeding depression and genetic drift.

Incomplete lineage sorting and introgression in the diversification of Chinese spot-billed ducks and mallards

Incomplete lineage sorting and introgression are 2 major and nonexclusive causes of species-level non-monophyly. Distinguishing between these 2 processes is notoriously difficult because they can generate similar genetic signatures. Previous studies have suggested that 2 closely related duck species, the Chinese spot-billed duck Anas zonorhyncha and the mallard A. platyrhynchos were polyphyletically intermixed. Here, we utilized a wide geographical sampling, multilocus data and a coalescent-based model to revisit this system. Our study confirms the finding that Chinese spot-billed ducks and Mallards are not monophyletic. There was no apparent interspecific differentiation across loci except those at the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region and the Z chromosome (CHD1Z). Based on an isolation-with-migration model and the geographical distribution of lineages, we suggest that both introgression and incomplete lineage sorting might contribute to the observed non-monophyly of the 2 closely related duck species. The mtDNA introgression was asymmetric, with high gene flow from Chinese spot-billed ducks to Mallards and negligible gene flow in the opposite direction. Given that the 2 duck species are phenotypically distinctive but weakly genetically differentiated, future work based on genome-scale data is necessary to uncover genomic regions that are involved in divergence, and this work may provide further insights into the evolutionary histories of the 2 species and other waterfowls.

Genetic, phenotypic and ecological differentiation suggests incipient speciation in two Charadrius plovers along the Chinese coast

Background

Speciation with gene flow is an alternative to the nascence of new taxa in strict allopatric separation. Indeed, many taxa have parapatric distributions at present. It is often unclear if these are secondary contacts, e.g. caused by past glaciation cycles or the manifestation of speciation with gene flow, which hampers our understanding of how different forces drive diversification. Here we studied genetic, phenotypic and ecological aspects of divergence in a pair of incipient shorebird species, the Kentish (Charadrius alexandrinus) and the White-faced Plovers (C. dealbatus), shorebirds with parapatric breeding ranges along the Chinese coast. We assessed divergence based on molecular markers with different modes of inheritance and quantified phenotypic and ecological divergence in aspects of morphometric, dietary and climatic niches.

Results

Our integrative analyses revealed small to moderate levels of genetic and phenotypic distinctiveness with symmetric gene flow across the contact area at the Chinese coast. The two species diverged approximately half a million years ago in dynamic isolation with secondary contact occurring due to cycling sea level changes between the Eastern and Southern China Sea in the mid-late Pleistocene. We found evidence of character displacement and ecological niche differentiation between the two species, invoking the role of selection in facilitating divergence despite gene flow.

Conclusion

These findings imply that ecology can indeed counter gene flow through divergent selection and thus contributes to incipient speciation in these plovers. Furthermore, our study highlights the importance of using integrative datasets to reveal the evolutionary history and assist the inference of mechanisms of speciation.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12862-019-1449-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Annual cycle of White-winged Scoters (Melanitta fusca) in eastern North America: migratory phenology, population delineation, and connectivity

Understanding full annual cycle movements of long-distance migrants is essential for delineating populations, assessing connectivity, evaluating crossover effects between life stages, and informing management strategies for vulnerable or declining species. We used implanted satellite transmitters to track up to 2 years of annual cycle movements of 52 adult female White-winged Scoters (Melanitta fusca (Linnaeus, 1758)) captured in the eastern United States and Canada. We used these data to document annual cycle phenology; delineate migration routes; identify primary areas used during winter, stopover, breeding, and molt; and assess the strength of migratory connectivity and spatial population structure. Most White-winged Scoters wintered along the Atlantic coast from Nova Scotia to southern New England, with some on Lake Ontario. White-winged Scoters followed four migration routes to breeding areas from Quebec to the Northwest Territories. Principal postbreeding molting areas were in James Bay and the St. Lawrence River estuary. Migration phenology was synchronous regardless of winter or breeding origin. Cluster analyses delineated two primary breeding areas: one molting area and one wintering area. White-winged Scoters demonstrated overall weak to moderate connectivity among life stages, with molting to wintering connectivity the strongest. Thus, White-winged Scoters that winter in eastern North America appear to constitute a single continuous population.

Flyway structure in the circumpolar greater white-fronted goose

Dispersal and migratory behavior are influential factors in determining how genetic diversity is distributed across the landscape. In migratory species, genetic structure can be promoted via several mechanisms including fidelity to distinct migratory routes. Particularly within North America, waterfowl management units have been delineated according to distinct longitudinal migratory flyways supported by banding data and other direct evidence. The greater white-fronted goose (Anser albifrons) is a migratory waterfowl species with a largely circumpolar distribution consisting of up to six subspecies roughly corresponding to phenotypic variation. We examined the rangewide population genetic structure of greater white-fronted geese using mtDNA control region sequence data and microsatellite loci from 23 locales across North America and Eurasia. We found significant differentiation in mtDNA between sampling locales with flyway delineation explaining a significant portion of the observed genetic variation (~12%). This is concordant with band recovery data which shows little interflyway or intercontinental movements. However, microsatellite loci revealed little genetic structure suggesting a panmictic population across most of the Arctic. As with many high-latitude species, Beringia appears to have played a role in the diversification of this species. A common Beringian origin of North America and Asian populations and a recent divergence could at least partly explain the general lack of structure at nuclear markers. Further, our results do not provide strong support for the various taxonomic proposals for this species except for supporting the distinctness of two isolated breeding populations within Cook Inlet, Alaska (A. a. elgasi) and Greenland (A. a. flavirostris), consistent with their subspecies status.

Genetic structure among greater white-fronted goose populations of the Pacific Flyway

An understanding of the genetic structure of populations in the wild is essential for long-term conservation and stewardship in the face of environmental change. Knowledge of the present-day distribution of genetic lineages (phylogeography) of a species is especially important for organisms that are exploited or utilize habitats that may be jeopardized by human intervention, including climate change. Here, we describe mitochondrial (mtDNA) and nuclear genetic (microsatellite) diversity among three populations of a migratory bird, the greater white-fronted goose (Anser albifrons), which breeds discontinuously in western and southwestern Alaska and winters in the Pacific Flyway of North America. Significant genetic structure was evident at both marker types. All three populations were differentiated for mtDNA, whereas microsatellite analysis only differentiated geese from the Cook Inlet Basin. In sexual reproducing species, nonrandom mate selection, when occurring in concert with fine-scale resource partitioning, can lead to phenotypic and genetic divergence as we observed in our study. If mate selection does not occur at the time of reproduction, which is not uncommon in long-lived organisms, then mechanisms influencing the true availability of potential mates may be obscured, and the degree of genetic and phenotypic diversity may appear incongruous with presumed patterns of gene flow. Previous investigations revealed population-specific behavioral, temporal, and spatial mechanisms that likely influence the amount of gene flow measured among greater white-fronted goose populations. The degree of observed genetic structuring aligns well with our current understanding of population differences pertaining to seasonal movements, social structure, pairing behavior, and resource partitioning.

Lack of genetic structure in greylag goose (Anser anser) populations along the European Atlantic flyway

Greylag goose populations are steadily increasing in north-western Europe. Although individuals breeding in the Netherlands have been considered mainly sedentary birds, those from Scandinavia or northern Germany fly towards their winter quarters, namely over France as far as Spain. This study aimed to determine the genetic structure of these birds, and to evaluate how goose populations mix. We used mitochondrial DNA and microsatellites from individuals distributed throughout the European Atlantic flyway, from breeding sites in Norway and the Netherlands to stopover and wintering sites in northern and south-western France. The mtDNA marker (CR1 D-Loop, 288 bp sequence, 144 ind.) showed 23 different haplotypes. The genetic distances amongst individuals sampled in Norway, northern France and the Netherlands were low (range 0.012-0.013). Individuals in south-western France showed a slightly higher genetic distance compared to all other sampling areas (ranges 0.018-0.022). The NJ tree does not show evidence of any single clades grouping together all individuals from the same geographic area. Besides, individuals from each site are found in different branches. Bayesian clustering procedures on 14 microsatellites (169 individuals) did not detect any geographically distinct cluster, and a high genetic admixture was recorded in all studied areas except for the individuals from the breeding sites in Norway, which were genetically very close. Estimation of migration rates through Bayesian inference confirms the scenario for the current mixing of goose populations.

Spatiotemporal dynamics of Puumala hantavirus associated with its rodent host, Myodes glareolus

Many viruses significantly impact human and animal health. Understanding the population dynamics of these viruses and their hosts can provide important insights for epidemiology and virus evolution. Puumala virus (PUUV) is a European hantavirus that may cause regional outbreaks of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome in humans. Here, we analyzed the spatiotemporal dynamics of PUUV circulating in local populations of its rodent reservoir host, the bank vole (Myodes glareolus) during eight years. Phylogenetic and population genetic analyses of all three genome segments of PUUV showed strong geographical structuring at a very local scale. There was a high temporal turnover of virus strains in the local bank vole populations, but several virus strains persisted through multiple years. Phylodynamic analyses showed no significant changes in the local effective population sizes of PUUV, although vole numbers and virus prevalence fluctuated widely. Microsatellite data demonstrated also a temporally persisting subdivision between local vole populations, but these groups did not correspond to the subdivision in the virus strains. We conclude that restricted transmission between vole populations and genetic drift play important roles in shaping the genetic structure and temporal dynamics of PUUV in its natural host which has several implications for zoonotic risks of the human population.

Structural and Population Polymorphism of RT-Like Sequences in Avian Schistosomes Trichobilharzia szidati (Platyhelminthes: Digenea: Schistosomatidae)

Recently we developed the genus-specific markers of the avian schistosomes of the genus Trichobilharzia, the causative agents of human cercarial dermatitis. The 7 novel genome sequences of T. franki, T. regenti, and T. szidati revealed similarity with genome repeat region of African schistosome Schistosoma mansoni. In the present work we analyzed the 37 new T. szidati sequences to study intragenome variability and host specificity for the parasite from three localities of East Europe. DNAs were isolated from cercariae or single sporocysts obtained from 6 lymnaeid snails Lymnaea stagnalis and L. palustris from Belarus and Russia. All sequences formed three diverged groups, one of which consists of the sequences with multiple deletions; other groups involved two paralogous copies with stop codons and frameshift mutations. Strong association between geographical distribution and snail host specificity cannot be established. All studied sequences have homology with the reverse transcriptase domain (RT) of Penelope-like elements (PLE) of S. mansoni and S. japonicum and new members of RT family were identified. We proposed that three diverged groups RT sequences of T. szidati are results of duplication or transposition of PLE during parasite evolution. Implications of the retroelement dynamics in the life history of avian schistosomes are discussed.

Wetlands explain most in the genetic divergence pattern of Oncomelania hupensis

Understanding the divergence patterns of hosts could shed lights on the prediction of their parasite transmission. No effort has been devoted to understand the drivers of genetic divergence pattern of Oncomelania hupensis, the only intermediate host of Schistosoma japonicum. Based on a compilation of two O. hupensis gene datasets covering a wide geographic range in China and an array of geographical distance and environmental dissimilarity metrics built from earth observation data and ecological niche modeling, we conducted causal modeling analysis via simple, partial Mantel test and local polynomial fitting to understand the interactions among isolation-by-distance, isolation-by-environment, and genetic divergence. We found that geography contributes more to genetic divergence than environmental isolation, and among all variables involved, wetland showed the strongest correlation with the genetic pairwise distances. These results suggested that in China, O. hupensis dispersal is strongly linked to the distribution of wetlands, and the current divergence pattern of both O. hupensis and schistosomiasis might be altered due to the changed wetland pattern with the accomplishment of the Three Gorges Dam and the South-to-North water transfer project.

Deep phylogeographic divergence of a migratory passerine in Sino-Himalayan and Siberian forests: the Red-flanked Bluetail (Tarsiger cyanurus) complex

Enormous mountainous forests in Sino-Himalayans and Siberia harbor important avian biodiversity in the Northern Hemisphere. Numerous studies in last two decades have been contributed to systematics and taxonomy of passerines birds in these regions and have revealed various and complex phylogeographic patterns. A passerine species Red-flanked Bluetail Tarsiger cyanurus provided a good system to manifest such evolutionary complexity. The subspecies T. c. cyanurus and T. c. rufilatus (or/and T. c. pallidior), divergent in morphology, acoustics, and migratory strategies are allopatric in Siberia and Sino-Himalayan forests, respectively. The two taxa most likely deserve full species status but rigorous genetic analysis is missing. In this study, multilocus phylogeography based on mitochondrial DNA and Z-linked DNA reveals that T. c. cyanurus and T. c. rufilatus are reciprocally monophyletic with significant statistical support and differ with a large number of diagnostic nucleotide sites resulting substantial genetic divergence. Our finding supports the proposed split of Tarsiger cyanurus s.l. that T. cyanurus and T. rufilatus should be treated as two full species. Whether "pallidior" is a subspecies or geographical form of T. rufilatus is still uncertain. Additionally, these two forest passerine species may have diverged 1.88 (3.25-1.30) Mya, which might be shaped by geographical vicariance due to grassland and desert steppe on the central Loess Plateau during the Pliocene. Taken together, this study and further suggests another independent example of North Palearctic-Sino-Himalayan phylogeographic pattern in Palearctic birds.

Environmental factors influence both abundance and genetic diversity in a widespread bird species

Genetic diversity is one of the key evolutionary variables that correlate with population size, being of critical importance for population viability and the persistence of species. Genetic diversity can also have important ecological consequences within populations, and in turn, ecological factors may drive patterns of genetic diversity. However, the relationship between the genetic diversity of a population and how this interacts with ecological processes has so far only been investigated in a few studies. Here, we investigate the link between ecological factors, local population size, and allelic diversity, using a field study of a common bird species, the house sparrow (Passer domesticus). We studied sparrows outside the breeding season in a confined small valley dominated by dispersed farms and small-scale agriculture in southern France. Population surveys at 36 locations revealed that sparrows were more abundant in locations with high food availability. We then captured and genotyped 891 house sparrows at 10 microsatellite loci from a subset of these locations (N = 12). Population genetic analyses revealed weak genetic structure, where each locality represented a distinct substructure within the study area. We found that food availability was the main factor among others tested to influence the genetic structure between locations. These results suggest that ecological factors can have strong impacts on both population size per se and intrapopulation genetic variation even at a small scale. On a more general level, our data indicate that a patchy environment and low dispersal rate can result in fine-scale patterns of genetic diversity. Given the importance of genetic diversity for population viability, combining ecological and genetic data can help to identify factors limiting population size and determine the conservation potential of populations.

Global lack of flyway structure in a cosmopolitan bird revealed by a genome wide survey of single nucleotide polymorphisms

Knowledge about population structure and connectivity of waterfowl species, especially mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), is a priority because of recent outbreaks of avian influenza. Ringing studies that trace large-scale movement patterns have to date been unable to detect clearly delineated mallard populations. We employed 363 single nucleotide polymorphism markers in combination with population genetics and phylogeographical approaches to conduct a population genomic test of panmixia in 801 mallards from 45 locations worldwide. Basic population genetic and phylogenetic methods suggest no or very little population structure on continental scales. Nor could individual-based structuring algorithms discern geographical structuring. Model-based coalescent analyses for testing models of population structure pointed to strong genetic connectivity among the world's mallard population. These diverse approaches all support the conclusion that there is a lack of clear population structure, suggesting that the world's mallards, perhaps with minor exceptions, form a single large, mainly interbreeding population.

High gene flow on a continental scale in the polyandrous Kentish plover Charadrius alexandrinus

Gene flow promotes genetic homogeneity of species in time and space. Gene flow can be modulated by sex-biased dispersal that links population genetics to mating systems. We investigated the phylogeography of the widely distributed Kentish plover Charadrius alexandrinus. This small shorebird has a large breeding range spanning from Western Europe to Japan and exhibits an unusually flexible mating system with high female breeding dispersal. We analysed genetic structure and gene flow using a 427-bp fragment of the mitochondrial (mtDNA) control region, 21 autosomal microsatellite markers and a Z microsatellite marker in 397 unrelated individuals from 21 locations. We found no structure or isolation-by-distance over the continental range. However, island populations had low genetic diversity and were moderately differentiated from mainland locations. Genetic differentiation based on autosomal markers was positively correlated with distance between mainland and each island. Comparisons of uniparentally and biparentally inherited markers were consistent with female-biased gene flow. Maternally inherited mtDNA was less structured, whereas the Z-chromosomal marker was more structured than autosomal microsatellites. Adult males were more related than females within genetic clusters. Taken together, our results suggest a prominent role for polyandrous females in maintaining genetic homogeneity across large geographic distances.