Molecular Evolution of Ecological Specialisation: Genomic Insights from the Diversification of Murine Rodents

Speciation across biomes: Rapid diversification with reproductive isolation in the Australian delicate mice

Phylogeographic studies of continental clades, especially when combined with palaeoclimate modelling, provide powerful insight into how environment drives speciation across climatic contexts. Australia, a continent characterized by disparate modern biomes and dynamic climate change, provides diverse opportunity to reconstruct the impact of past and present environments on diversification. Here, we use genomic-scale data (1310 exons and whole mitogenomes from 111 samples) to investigate Pleistocene diversification, cryptic diversity, and secondary contact in the Australian delicate mice (Hydromyini: Pseudomys), a recent radiation spanning almost all Australian environments. Across northern Australia, we find no evidence for introgression between cryptic lineages within Pseudomys delicatulus sensu lato, with palaeoclimate models supporting contraction and expansion of suitable habitat since the last glacial maximum. Despite multiple contact zones, we also find little evidence of introgression at a continental scale, with the exception of a potential hybrid zone in the mesic biome. In the arid zone, combined insights from genetic data and palaeomodels support a recent expansion in the arid specialist P. hermannsburgensis and contraction in the semi-arid P. bolami. In the face of repeated secondary contact, differences in sperm morphology and chromosomal rearrangements are potential mechanisms that maintain species boundaries in these recently diverged species. Additionally, we describe the western delicate mouse as a new species and recommend taxonomic reinstatement of the eastern delicate mouse. Overall, we show that speciation in an evolutionarily young and widespread clade has been driven by environmental change, and potentially maintained by divergence in reproductive morphology and chromosome rearrangements.

Molecular evolution of male reproduction across species with highly divergent sperm morphology in diverse murine rodents

Sperm competition can drive rapid evolution of male reproductive traits, but it remains unclear how variation in sperm competition intensity shapes phenotypic and molecular diversity across clades. Old World mice and rats (subfamily Murinae) comprise a rapid radiation and exhibit incredible diversity in sperm morphology and production. We combined phenotype and sequence data to model the evolution of reproductive traits and genes across 78 murine species. We identified several shifts towards smaller relative testes mass, a trait reflective of reduced sperm competition. Several sperm traits were associated with relative testes mass, suggesting that mating system evolution likely selects for convergent traits related to sperm competitive ability. Molecular evolutionary rates of spermatogenesis proteins also correlated with relative testes mass, but in an unexpected direction. We predicted that sperm competition would result in rapid divergence among species with large relative testes mass, but instead found that many spermatogenesis genes evolve more rapidly in species with smaller relative testes mass due to relaxed purifying selection. While some reproductive genes evolved under positive selection, relaxed selection played a greater role underlying rapid evolution in small testes species. Our work demonstrates that sexual selection can impose strong purifying selection shaping the evolution of male reproduction.

The genomic landscape, causes, and consequences of extensive phylogenomic discordance in Old World mice and rats

A species tree is a central concept in evolutionary biology whereby a single branching phylogeny reflects relationships among species. However, the phylogenies of different genomic regions often differ from the species tree. Although tree discordance is often widespread in phylogenomic studies, we still lack a clear understanding of how variation in phylogenetic patterns is shaped by genome biology or the extent to which discordance may compromise comparative studies. We characterized patterns of phylogenomic discordance across the murine rodents (Old World mice and rats) - a large and ecologically diverse group that gave rise to the mouse and rat model systems. Combining new linked-read genome assemblies for seven murine species with eleven published rodent genomes, we first used ultra-conserved elements (UCEs) to infer a robust species tree. We then used whole genomes to examine finer-scale patterns of discordance and found that phylogenies built from proximate chromosomal regions had similar phylogenies. However, there was no relationship between tree similarity and local recombination rates in house mice, suggesting that genetic linkage influences phylogenetic patterns over deeper timescales. This signal may be independent of contemporary recombination landscapes. We also detected a strong influence of linked selection whereby purifying selection at UCEs led to less discordance, while genes experiencing positive selection showed more discordant and variable phylogenetic signals. Finally, we show that assuming a single species tree can result in high error rates when testing for positive selection under different models. Collectively, our results highlight the complex relationship between phylogenetic inference and genome biology and underscore how failure to account for this complexity can mislead comparative genomic studies.

Genome survey sequencing-based SSR marker development and their validation in Dendrocalamus longispathus

Bamboo is an important genetic resource in India, supporting rural livelihood and industries. Unfortunately, most Indian bamboo taxa are devoid of basic genomic or marker information required to comprehend the genetic processes for further conservation and management. In this study, we perform genome survey sequencing for development of de novo genomic SSRs in Dendrocalamus longispathus, a socioeconomically important bamboo species of northeast India. Using Illumina platform, 69.49 million raw reads were generated and assembled into 1,145,321 contig with GC content 43% and N50 1228 bp. In total, 46,984 microsatellite repeats were mined-out wherein di-nucleotide repeats were most abundant (54.71%) followed by mono- (31.91%) and tri-repeats (9.85%). Overall, AT-rich repeats were predominant in the genome, but GC-rich motifs were more frequent in tri-repeats. Afterwards, 21,596 SSR loci were successfully tagged with the primer pairs, and a subset of 50 were validated through polymerase chain reaction amplification. Of these, 36 SSR loci were successfully amplified, and 16 demonstrated polymorphism. Using 13 polymorphic SSRs, a moderate level of gene diversity (He = 0.480; Ar = 3.52) was recorded in the analysed populations of D. longispathus. Despite the high gene flow (Nm = 4.928) and low genetic differentiation (F_ST = 0.119), severe inbreeding (F_IS = 0.407) was detected. Further, genetic clustering and STRUCTURE analysis revealed that the entire genetic variability is captured under two major gene pools. Conclusively, we present a comprehensive set of novel SSR markers in D. longispathus as well as other taxa of tropical woody bamboos.

Evolution: The evolutionary rat race in New Guinea and Australia

A new molecular phylogeny of a remarkable radiation of New Guinean and Australian rodents indicates multiple transitions between biomes and biogeographical regions within the group, and suggests that a key role was played by the geological history of New Guinea.

New Guinea uplift opens ecological opportunity across a continent

Sahul unites the world's largest and highest tropical island and the oldest and most arid continent on the backdrop of dynamic environmental conditions. Massive geological uplift in New Guinea is predicted to have acted as a species pump from the late Miocene onward, but the impact of this process on biogeography and diversification remains untested across Sahul as a whole. To address this, we reconstruct the assembly of a recent and diverse radiation of rodents (Murinae: Hydromyini) spanning New Guinea, Australia, and oceanic islands. Using phylogenomic data from 270 specimens, including many recently extinct and highly elusive species, we find that the orogeny and expansion of New Guinea opened ecological opportunity and triggered diversification across a continent. After a single over-water colonization from Asia ca. 8.5 Ma, ancestral Hydromyini were restricted to the tropical rainforest of proto-New Guinea for 3.5 million years. Following a shift in diversification coincident with the orogeny of New Guinea ca. 5 Ma and subsequent colonization of Australia, transitions between geographic regions (n = 24) and biomes (n = 34) become frequent. Recurrent over-water colonization between mainland and islands demonstrate how islands can play a substantial role in the assembly of continental fauna. Our results are consistent with a model of increased ecological opportunity across Sahul following major geological uplift in New Guinea ca. 5 Ma, with sustained diversification facilitated by over-water colonization from the Pleistocene to present. We show how geological processes, biome transitions, and over-water colonization collectively drove the diversification of an expansive continental radiation.

Sequence Capture From Historical Museum Specimens: Maximizing Value for Population and Phylogenomic Studies

The application of high-throughput, short-read sequencing to degraded DNA has greatly increased the feasibility of generating genomic data from historical museum specimens. While many published studies report successful sequencing results from historical specimens; in reality, success and quality of sequence data can be highly variable. To examine predictors of sequencing quality, and methodological approaches to improving data accuracy, we generated and analyzed genomic sequence data from 115 historically collected museum specimens up to 180 years old. Data span both population genomic and phylogenomic scales, including historically collected specimens from 34 specimens of four species of Australian rock-wallabies (genus Petrogale) and 92 samples from 79 specimens of Australo-Papuan murine rodents (subfamily Murinae). For historical rodent specimens, where the focus was sampling for phylogenomics, we found that regardless of specimen age, DNA sequence libraries prepared from toe pad or bone subsamples performed significantly better than those taken from the skin (in terms of proportion of reads on target, number of loci captured, and data accuracy). In total, 93% of DNA libraries from toe pad or bone subsamples resulted in reliable data for phylogenetic inference, compared to 63% of skin subsamples. For skin subsamples, proportion of reads on target weakly correlated with collection year. Then using population genomic data from rock-wallaby skins as a test case, we found substantial improvement in final data quality by mapping to a high-quality “closest sister” de novo assembly from fresh tissues, compared to mapping to a sample-specific historical de novo assembly. Choice of mapping approach also affected final estimates of the number of segregating sites and Watterson's θ, both important parameters for population genomic inference. The incorporation of accurate and reliable sequence data from historical specimens has important outcomes for evolutionary studies at both population and phylogenomic scales. By assessing the outcomes of different approaches to specimen subsampling, library preparation and bioinformatic processing, our results provide a framework for increasing sequencing success for irreplaceable historical specimens.

Museum genomics reveals the rapid decline and extinction of Australian rodents since European settlement

Australia has the highest historically recorded rate of mammalian extinction in the world, with 34 terrestrial species declared extinct since European colonization in 1788. Among Australian mammals, rodents have been the most severely affected by these recent extinctions; however, given a sparse historical record, the scale and timing of their decline remain unresolved. Using museum specimens up to 184 y old, we generate genomic-scale data from across the entire assemblage of Australian hydromyine rodents (i.e., eight extinct species and their 42 living relatives). We reconstruct a phylogenomic tree for these species spanning ∼5.2 million years, revealing a cumulative total of 10 million years (>10%) of unique evolutionary history lost to extinction within the past ∼150 y. We find no evidence for reduced genetic diversity in extinct species just prior to or during decline, indicating that their extinction was extremely rapid. This suggests that populations of extinct Australian rodents were large prior to European colonization, and that genetic diversity does not necessarily protect species from catastrophic extinction. In addition, comparative analyses suggest that body size and biome interact to predict extinction and decline, with larger species more likely to go extinct. Finally, we taxonomically resurrect a species from extinction, Gould's mouse (Pseudomys gouldii Waterhouse, 1839), which survives as an island population in Shark Bay, Western Australia (currently classified as Pseudomys fieldi Waite, 1896). With unprecedented sampling across a radiation of extinct and living species, we unlock a previously inaccessible historical perspective on extinction in Australia. Our results highlight the capacity of collections-based research to inform conservation and management of persisting species.

The evolution of a bitter taste receptor gene in primates

Bitter taste perception is critical to prevent animals from ingesting potentially harmful substances. The aim of this study was to characterize the evolution of T2R4 and test the hypothesis that different regions of the T2R gene are subject to disparate selective pressures, with extracellular regions (ECs) being erratic while transmembrane (TMs) and intracellular regions (ICs) being constrained. Thus, we examined the selective pressures acting on T2R4 and its different regions in 37 primates, and discovered that T2R4 and ECs were subject to neutral evolution and purifying selection, respectively, whereas both TMs and ICs showed purifying selection, as suggested by the hypothesis. We attribute this result to the relatively conservative property of T2R4 gene and the limited number of bitter tastants that T2R4 can respond to. Furthermore, we found that positive selection had acted on the first loop of extracellular regions (EL1). In contrast, the second loop (EL2) and transmembrane region-3, -6, -7 (TM367) were subject to purifying selection, and the third loop (EL3) was subject to neutral evolution. This discovery is probably because EL2, EL3, and TMs play a crucial role in the ligand-binding process, and EL1 is involved in the tastant recognition process. We further tested whether the ω of T2R4 differs among species with different diets and found that a specialized diet affected the evolution of T2R4. Feeding habits, fewer T2Rs, and a dietary shift may account for the results. This study can help to uncover the evolution of T2Rs during the primate evolutionary course.