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Awadi A, Ben Slimen H, Smith S, Makni M, Suchentrunk F. Patterns of evolution in MHC class II DQA and DQB exon 2 genes of Alpine mountain hares, Lepus timidus varronis, and sympatric and parapatric brown hares, L. europaeus, from Switzerland. Immunogenetics 2024; 76:37-50. [PMID: 38114658 DOI: 10.1007/s00251-023-01328-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2023] [Accepted: 12/14/2023] [Indexed: 12/21/2023]
Abstract
In natural populations, hybridization is known to occur between a wide range of species. However, its evolutionary significance is less clear. Genes involved in fighting pathogens are considered excellent candidates for studying adaptive introgression, although both introgression and balancing selection can generate similar patterns of diversity and differentiation. Here, we compared DQA and DQB MHC class II and microsatellite allelic diversity of sympatric and parapatric mountain (Lepus timidus) and brown hare (L. europaeus) populations from Switzerland. We detected higher genetic diversity in brown hares compared to mountain hares at both MHC and microsatellite loci. We consider the observed patterns of microsatellite diversity both for L. europaeus and L. timidus as result of stochastic demographic processes while the pattern of MHC polymorphism of the studied hare populations can be explained by pathogen-driven selection. Rare bidirectional gene flow between both hare species seems to occur specifically for MHC alleles. However, the high number of shared alleles showing similar high frequency in both species suggests that reciprocally exchanged MHC alleles are being maintained via balancing selection. Adaptation to similar pathogen communities can also lead to parallel selection of MHC alleles. Positive selection, recombination and mutations have played different roles in shaping the patterns of MHC allelic diversity in and differentiation between both species. Results for the latter evolutionary forces do not show a better matching between the sympatric populations compared to the parapatric ones, suggesting a minor role of introgression for the observed evolutionary patterns of the studied hare species.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Awadi
- Laboratory of Functional Physiology and Valorization of Bioresources, Higher Institute of Biotechnology of Béja, University of Jendouba, Béja, 9000, Tunisia
| | - H Ben Slimen
- Laboratory of Functional Physiology and Valorization of Bioresources, Higher Institute of Biotechnology of Béja, University of Jendouba, Béja, 9000, Tunisia.
| | - S Smith
- Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Savoyenstrasse 1, Vienna, 1160, Austria
| | - M Makni
- Faculty of Sciences of Tunis, LR01ES05 Biochimie et Biotechnologie, University of Tunis El Manar, Tunis, 2092, Tunisia
| | - F Suchentrunk
- Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Savoyenstrasse 1, Vienna, 1160, Austria
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2
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Characterising Mitochondrial Capture in an Iberian Shrew. Genes (Basel) 2022; 13:genes13122228. [PMID: 36553495 PMCID: PMC9777731 DOI: 10.3390/genes13122228] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2022] [Revised: 11/08/2022] [Accepted: 11/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Mitochondrial introgression raises questions of biogeography and of the extent of reproductive isolation and natural selection. Previous phylogenetic work on the Sorex araneus complex revealed apparent mitonuclear discordance in Iberian shrews, indicating past hybridisation of Sorex granarius and the Carlit chromosomal race of S. araneus, enabling introgression of the S. araneus mitochondrial genome into S. granarius. To further study this, we genetically typed 61 Sorex araneus/coronatus/granarius from localities in Portugal, Spain, France, and Andorra at mitochondrial, autosomal, and sex-linked loci and combined our data with the previously published sequences. Our data are consistent with earlier data indicating that S. coronatus and S. granarius are the most closely related of the three species, confirming that S. granarius from the Central System mountain range in Spain captured the mitochondrial genome from a population of S. araneus. This mitochondrial capture event can be explained by invoking a biogeographical scenario whereby S. araneus was in contact with S. granarius during the Younger Dryas in central Iberia, despite the two species currently having disjunct distributions. We discuss whether selection favoured S. granarius with an introgressed mitochondrial genome. Our data also suggest recent hybridisation and introgression between S. coronatus and S. granarius, as well as between S. araneus and S. coronatus.
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3
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Anatomical Correlates of Cursoriality are Compromised by Body Size and Propensity to Burrow in a Group of Small Mammals (Lagomorpha). Evol Biol 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s11692-022-09584-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
AbstractHighly cursorial animals are specialised for fast, sustained running via specific morphological adaptations, notably including changes in limb segment length and mechanical advantage. Members of the order Lagomorpha (hares, rabbits and pikas) vary in cursorial ability; hares are generally highly cursorial, rabbits more frequently saltate, and pikas predominantly trot. Previous investigations of lagomorphs have identified anatomical trends correlated with this ‘cursoriality gradient’, however, the phylogenetic sampling of such investigations has been limited to three American species, namely the American pika (Ochotona princeps), brush rabbit (Sylvilagus bachmani), and black-tailed jackrabbit (Lepus californicus). Here, we expand the phylogenetic sample and body size range by including novel data from Australian samples of the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and European hare (L. europaeus), alongside unpublished data on the Eastern cottontail (S. floridanus). X-ray Computed Tomography and digital landmarking were used to capture proportions within the appendicular skeleton of ~ 40 specimens of each European species. In doubling the number of species studied, we find the previously-identified morphological gradients associated with cursorial behaviour are complicated when evaluated in the larger sample. The relative length and joint velocity of limbs was found to be lower than predicted in European rabbits and hares. Furthermore, we present a novel assessment of morphological integration in the lagomorph appendicular skeleton, finding between-limb covariation patterns that are generally similar to those of other mammals. Broadly, these results suggest cursoriality is only one of many selective forces driving lagomorph skeletal evolution, with variations in body size and fossoriality potentially having measurable impacts.
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Reid N, Hughes MF, Hynes RA, Montgomery WI, Prodöhl PA. Bidirectional hybridisation and introgression between introduced European brown hare, Lepus europaeus and the endemic Irish hare, L. timidus hibernicus. CONSERV GENET 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s10592-022-01471-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
AbstractIntroduced non-native species can threaten native species through interspecific hybridisation and genetic introgression. We assessed the prevalence of hybridisation and introgression between introduced European brown hare, Lepus europaeus, and the endemic Irish hare, L. timidus hibernicus. Roadkill hares (n = 56) were sequenced for a 379bp section of the mitochondrial DNA D-loop and a 474bp segment of the nuclear transferrin (Tf) gene. A species-specific indel in the transferrin gene was present in L.t. hibernicus and absent in L. europaeus. Excluding three hares from which molecular data could not be recovered, 28 hares (53%) were native L.t. hibernicus, 7 (13%) were non-native L. europaeus and 18 (34%) were hybrids; of which 5 (28%) were first generation (F1) involving bidirectional crosses with mismatched nuclear and mtDNA (3 ♂ europaeus x ♀ hibernicus and 2 ♂ hibernicus x ♀ europaeus). Mixed nuclear transferrin sequences suggested 13 (72%) of hybrids were at least 2nd generation (F2) with 9 (69%) possessing L.t. hibernicus and 4 (31%) L. europaeus mtDNA (the latter indicative of hybrid backcrossing with the non-native). The prevalence of hybridisation at similar mountain-brown hare contact zones throughout Europe is notably lower (4–16%) and typically unidirectional (♂ europaeus x ♀ timidus). A high prevalence of bidirectional hybridisation and introgression (in association with projected climate change) may favour the introduced species over the native. Genetic surveillance and population monitoring are needed to further explore the potential conservation implications of European brown hare in Ireland.
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UCE sequencing-derived mitogenomes reveal the timing of mitochondrial replacement in Malagasy shrew tenrecs (Afrosoricida, Tenrecidae, Microgale). Mamm Biol 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s42991-022-00246-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
AbstractMalagasy shrew tenrecs (Microgale) have increasingly been used to study speciation genetics over the last years. A previous study recently uncovered gene flow between the Shrew-toothed shrew tenrec (M. soricoides) and sympatric southern population of the Pale shrew tenrec (M. fotsifotsy). This gene flow has been suggested to be accompanied by complete mitochondrial replacement in M. fotsifotsy. To explore the temporal framework of this replacement, we assembled mitogenomes from publicly available sequencing data of ultra-conserved elements. We were able to assemble complete and partial mitogenomes for 19 specimens from five species of shrew tenrecs, which represents a multifold increase in mitogenomic resources available for all tenrecs. Phylogenetic inferences and sequence simulations support the close relationship between the mitochondrial lineages of M. soricoides and the southern population of M. fotsifotsy. Based on the nuclear divergence of northern and southern populations of M. fotsifotsy and the mitochondrial divergence between the latter and M. soricoides, there was a mean time window for replacement of ~ 350,000 years. This timeframe implies that the effective size of the ancestral M. fotsifotsy southern population was less 70,000.
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Giska I, Pimenta J, Farelo L, Boursot P, Hackländer K, Jenny H, Reid N, Montgomery WI, Prodöhl PA, Alves PC, Melo-Ferreira J. The evolutionary pathways for local adaptation in mountain hares. Mol Ecol 2022; 31:1487-1503. [PMID: 34995383 PMCID: PMC9303332 DOI: 10.1111/mec.16338] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2021] [Revised: 12/06/2021] [Accepted: 12/17/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Understanding the evolution of local adaptations is a central aim of evolutionary biology and key for the identification of unique populations and lineages of conservation relevance. By combining RAD sequencing and whole‐genome sequencing, we identify genetic signatures of local adaptation in mountain hares (Lepus timidus) from isolated and distinctive habitats of its wide distribution: Ireland, the Alps and Fennoscandia. Demographic modelling suggested that the split of these mountain hares occurred around 20 thousand years ago, providing the opportunity to study adaptive evolution over a short timescale. Using genome‐wide scans, we identified signatures of extreme differentiation among hares from distinct geographic areas that overlap with area‐specific selective sweeps, suggesting targets for local adaptation. Several identified candidate genes are associated with traits related to the uniqueness of the different environments inhabited by the three groups of mountain hares, including coat colour, ability to live at high altitudes and variation in body size. In Irish mountain hares, a variant of ASIP, a gene previously implicated in introgression‐driven winter coat colour variation in mountain and snowshoe hares (L. americanus), may underlie brown winter coats, reinforcing the repeated nature of evolution at ASIP moulding adaptive seasonal colouration. Comparative genomic analyses across several hare species suggested that mountain hares’ adaptive variants appear predominantly species‐specific. However, using coalescent simulations, we also show instances where the candidate adaptive variants have been introduced via introgressive hybridization. Our study shows that standing adaptive variation, including that introgressed from other species, was a crucial component of the post‐glacial dynamics of species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iwona Giska
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal
| | - João Pimenta
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal.,Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.,BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Vairão, Portugal
| | - Liliana Farelo
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal.,BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Vairão, Portugal
| | - Pierre Boursot
- Institut des Sciences de l'Évolution Montpellier (ISEM), Université Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, Montpellier, France
| | - Klaus Hackländer
- Institute of Wildlife Biology and Game Management, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria.,Deutsche Wildtier Stiftung (German Wildlife Foundation), Hamburg, Germany
| | - Hannes Jenny
- Department of Wildlife and Fishery Service Grison, Chur, Switzerland
| | - Neil Reid
- Institute of Global Food Security (IGFS), School of Biological Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, UK
| | - W Ian Montgomery
- Institute of Global Food Security (IGFS), School of Biological Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, UK
| | - Paulo A Prodöhl
- Institute of Global Food Security (IGFS), School of Biological Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, UK
| | - Paulo C Alves
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal.,Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.,BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Vairão, Portugal
| | - José Melo-Ferreira
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal.,Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.,BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Vairão, Portugal
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7
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Kraatz B, Belabbas R, Fostowicz-Frelik Ł, Ge DY, Kuznetsov AN, Lang MM, López-Torres S, Mohammadi Z, Racicot RA, Ravosa MJ, Sharp AC, Sherratt E, Silcox MT, Słowiak J, Winkler AJ, Ruf I. Lagomorpha as a Model Morphological System. Front Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.636402] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Due to their global distribution, invasive history, and unique characteristics, European rabbits are recognizable almost anywhere on our planet. Although they are members of a much larger group of living and extinct mammals [Mammalia, Lagomorpha (rabbits, hares, and pikas)], the group is often characterized by several well-known genera (e.g., Oryctolagus, Sylvilagus, Lepus, and Ochotona). This representation does not capture the extraordinary diversity of behavior and form found throughout the order. Model organisms are commonly used as exemplars for biological research, but there are a limited number of model clades or lineages that have been used to study evolutionary morphology in a more explicitly comparative way. We present this review paper to show that lagomorphs are a strong system in which to study macro- and micro-scale patterns of morphological change within a clade that offers underappreciated levels of diversity. To this end, we offer a summary of the status of relevant aspects of lagomorph biology.
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8
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Ferreira MS, Jones MR, Callahan CM, Farelo L, Tolesa Z, Suchentrunk F, Boursot P, Mills LS, Alves PC, Good JM, Melo-Ferreira J. The Legacy of Recurrent Introgression during the Radiation of Hares. Syst Biol 2021; 70:593-607. [PMID: 33263746 PMCID: PMC8048390 DOI: 10.1093/sysbio/syaa088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2020] [Revised: 11/06/2020] [Accepted: 11/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Hybridization may often be an important source of adaptive variation, but the extent and long-term impacts of introgression have seldom been evaluated in the phylogenetic context of a radiation. Hares (Lepus) represent a widespread mammalian radiation of 32 extant species characterized by striking ecological adaptations and recurrent admixture. To understand the relevance of introgressive hybridization during the diversification of Lepus, we analyzed whole exome sequences (61.7 Mb) from 15 species of hares (1-4 individuals per species), spanning the global distribution of the genus, and two outgroups. We used a coalescent framework to infer species relationships and divergence times, despite extensive genealogical discordance. We found high levels of allele sharing among species and show that this reflects extensive incomplete lineage sorting and temporally layered hybridization. Our results revealed recurrent introgression at all stages along the Lepus radiation, including recent gene flow between extant species since the last glacial maximum but also pervasive ancient introgression occurring since near the origin of the hare lineages. We show that ancient hybridization between northern hemisphere species has resulted in shared variation of potential adaptive relevance to highly seasonal environments, including genes involved in circadian rhythm regulation, pigmentation, and thermoregulation. Our results illustrate how the genetic legacy of ancestral hybridization may persist across a radiation, leaving a long-lasting signature of shared genetic variation that may contribute to adaptation. [Adaptation; ancient introgression; hybridization; Lepus; phylogenomics.].
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Affiliation(s)
- Mafalda S Ferreira
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, United States of America
| | - Matthew R Jones
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, United States of America
| | - Colin M Callahan
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, United States of America
| | - Liliana Farelo
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal
| | - Zelalem Tolesa
- Department of Biology, Hawassa University, Hawassa, Ethiopia
| | - Franz Suchentrunk
- Department for Interdisciplinary Life Sciences, Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Pierre Boursot
- Institut des Sciences de l’Évolution Montpellier (ISEM), Université de Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, EPHE, France
| | - L Scott Mills
- Wildlife Biology Program, College of Forestry and Conservation, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, United States of America
- Office of Research and Creative Scholarship, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, United States of America; Jeffrey M. Good and José Melo-Ferreira shared the senior authorship
| | - Paulo C Alves
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
- Wildlife Biology Program, College of Forestry and Conservation, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, United States of America
| | - Jeffrey M Good
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, United States of America
- Wildlife Biology Program, College of Forestry and Conservation, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, United States of America
| | - José Melo-Ferreira
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
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9
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Cerca J, Rivera-Colón AG, Ferreira MS, Ravinet M, Nowak MD, Catchen JM, Struck TH. Incomplete lineage sorting and ancient admixture, and speciation without morphological change in ghost-worm cryptic species. PeerJ 2021; 9:e10896. [PMID: 33614296 PMCID: PMC7879940 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.10896] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2020] [Accepted: 01/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Morphologically similar species, that is cryptic species, may be similar or quasi-similar owing to the deceleration of morphological evolution and stasis. While the factors underlying the deceleration of morphological evolution or stasis in cryptic species remain unknown, decades of research in the field of paleontology on punctuated equilibrium have originated clear hypotheses. Species are expected to remain morphologically identical in scenarios of shared genetic variation, such as hybridization and incomplete lineage sorting, or in scenarios where bottlenecks reduce genetic variation and constrain the evolution of morphology. Here, focusing on three morphologically similar Stygocapitella species, we employ a whole-genome amplification method (WGA) coupled with double-digestion restriction-site associated DNA sequencing (ddRAD) to reconstruct the evolutionary history of the species complex. We explore population structure, use population-level statistics to determine the degree of connectivity between populations and species, and determine the most likely demographic scenarios which generally reject for recent hybridization. We find that the combination of WGA and ddRAD allowed us to obtain genomic-level data from microscopic eukaryotes (∼1 millimetre) opening up opportunities for those working with population genomics and phylogenomics in such taxa. The three species share genetic variance, likely from incomplete lineage sorting and ancient admixture. We speculate that the degree of shared variation might underlie morphological similarity in the Atlantic species complex.
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Affiliation(s)
- José Cerca
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States of America
- Department of Natural History, NTNU University Museum, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
- Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Angel G. Rivera-Colón
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana Champaign, IL, United States of America
| | - Mafalda S. Ferreira
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, United States of America
- Departamento de Biologia, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Porto, Portugal
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Mark Ravinet
- School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
- Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | | | - Julian M. Catchen
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana Champaign, IL, United States of America
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10
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Phillips MJ, Shazwani Zakaria S. Enhancing mitogenomic phylogeny and resolving the relationships of extinct megafaunal placental mammals. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2021; 158:107082. [PMID: 33482383 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2020] [Revised: 12/21/2020] [Accepted: 01/11/2021] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Mitochondrial genomes provided the first widely used sequences that were sufficiently informative to resolve relationships among animals across a wide taxonomic domain, from within species to between phyla. However, mitogenome studies supported several anomalous relationships and fell partly out of favour as sequencing multiple, independent nuclear loci proved to be highly effective. A tendency to blame mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) has overshadowed efforts to understand and ameliorate underlying model misspecification. Here we find that influential assessments of the infidelity of mitogenome phylogenies have often been overstated, but nevertheless, substitution saturation and compositional non-stationarity substantially mislead reconstruction. We show that RY coding the mtDNA, excluding protein-coding 3rd codon sites, partitioning models based on amino acid hydrophobicity and enhanced taxon sampling improve the accuracy of mitogenomic phylogeny reconstruction for placental mammals, almost to the level of multi-gene nuclear datasets. Indeed, combined analysis of mtDNA with 3-fold longer nuclear sequence data either maintained or improved upon the nuclear support for all generally accepted clades, even those that mtDNA alone did not favour, thus indicating "hidden support". Confident mtDNA phylogeny reconstruction is especially important for understanding the evolutionary dynamics of mitochondria themselves, and for merging extinct taxa into the tree of life, with ancient DNA often only accessible as mtDNA. Our ancient mtDNA analyses lend confidence to the relationships of three extinct megafaunal taxa: glyptodonts are nested within armadillos, the South American ungulate, Macrauchenia is sister to horses and rhinoceroses, and sabre-toothed and scimitar cats are the monophyletic sister-group of modern cats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew J Phillips
- School of Biology and Environmental Science, Queensland University of Technology, 2 George Street, Brisbane 4000, QLD, Australia.
| | - Sarah Shazwani Zakaria
- School of Biology and Environmental Science, Queensland University of Technology, 2 George Street, Brisbane 4000, QLD, Australia; School of Biology, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Caw. Negeri Sembilan, Kuala Pilah 72000, Malaysia
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11
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Bartáková V, Bryjová A, Nicolas V, Lavrenchenko LA, Bryja J. Mitogenomics of the endemic Ethiopian rats: looking for footprints of adaptive evolution in sky islands. Mitochondrion 2021; 57:182-191. [PMID: 33412336 DOI: 10.1016/j.mito.2020.12.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2020] [Revised: 12/18/2020] [Accepted: 12/30/2020] [Indexed: 12/09/2022]
Abstract
Organisms living in high altitude must adapt to environmental conditions with hypoxia and low temperature, e.g. by changes in the structure and function of proteins associated with oxidative phosphorylation in mitochondria. Here we analysed the signs of adaptive evolution in 27 mitogenomes of endemic Ethiopian rats (Stenocephalemys), where individual species adapted to different elevation. Significant signals of positive selection were detected in 10 of the 13 mitochondrial protein-coding genes, with a majority of functional substitutions in the NADH dehydrogenase complex. Higher frequency of positively selected sites was found in phylogenetic lineages corresponding to Afroalpine specialists.
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Affiliation(s)
- Veronika Bartáková
- Institute of Vertebrate Biology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic.
| | - Anna Bryjová
- Institute of Vertebrate Biology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Violaine Nicolas
- Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, EPHE, Université des Antilles, CP51 Paris, France
| | - Leonid A Lavrenchenko
- A. N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Josef Bryja
- Institute of Vertebrate Biology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic; Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
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12
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Buglione M, Petrelli S, de Filippo G, Troiano C, Rivieccio E, Notomista T, Maselli V, di Martino L, Carafa M, Gregorio R, Latini R, Fortebraccio M, Romeo G, Biliotti C, Fulgione D. Contribution to the ecology of the Italian hare (Lepus corsicanus). Sci Rep 2020; 10:13071. [PMID: 32753640 PMCID: PMC7403147 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-70013-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2020] [Accepted: 07/06/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
The Italian hare (Lepus corsicanus) is endemic to Central-Southern Italy and Sicily, classified as vulnerable due to habitat alterations, low density and fragmented populations and ecological competition with the sympatric European hare (Lepus europaeus). Despite this status, only few and local studies have explored its ecological features. We provided some key traits of the ecological niche of the Italian hare as well as its potential distribution in the Italian peninsula. All data derived from genetically validated presences. We generated a habitat suitability model using maximum entropy distribution model for the Italian hare and its main competitor, the European hare. The dietary habits were obtained for the Italian hare with DNA metabarcoding and High-Throughput Sequencing on faecal pellets. The most relevant environmental variables affecting the potential distribution of the Italian hare are shared with the European hare, suggesting a potential competition. The variation in the observed altitudinal distribution is statistically significant between the two species.The diet of the Italian hare all year around includes 344 plant taxa accounted by 62 families. The Fagaceae, Fabaceae, Poaceae, Rosaceae and Solanaceae (counts > 20,000) represented the 90.22% of the total diet. Fabaceae (60.70%) and Fagaceae (67.47%) were the most abundant plant items occurring in the Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter diets, respectively. The Spring/Summer diet showed richness (N = 266) and diversity index values (Shannon: 2.329, Evenness: 0.03858, Equitability: 0.4169) higher than the Autumn/Winter diet (N = 199, Shannon: 1.818, Evenness: 0.03096, Equitability: 0.3435). Our contribution adds important information to broaden the knowledge on the environmental (spatial and trophic) requirements of the Italian hare, representing effective support for fitting management actions in conservation planning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Buglione
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
| | - Simona Petrelli
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
| | | | - Claudia Troiano
- Department of Humanities, University of Naples Federico II, Napoli, Italy
| | | | - Tommaso Notomista
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
| | - Valeria Maselli
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
| | | | | | - Romano Gregorio
- Cilento, Vallo di Diano e Alburni National Park, Salerno, Italy
| | - Roberta Latini
- Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park, Pescasseroli, Aquila, Italy
| | | | - Giorgia Romeo
- Wildlife Section, Tuscan Regional Council, Grosseto, Italy
| | - Claudia Biliotti
- SOS Animali Onlus, Wildlife Rescue Center, Semproniano, Grosseto, Italy
| | - Domenico Fulgione
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.
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13
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Ferreira MS, Alves PC, Callahan CM, Giska I, Farelo L, Jenny H, Mills LS, Hackländer K, Good JM, Melo‐Ferreira J. Transcriptomic regulation of seasonal coat color change in hares. Ecol Evol 2020; 10:1180-1192. [PMID: 32076506 PMCID: PMC7029059 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.5956] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2019] [Revised: 11/26/2019] [Accepted: 12/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Color molts from summer brown to winter white coats have evolved in several species to maintain camouflage year-round in environments with seasonal snow. Despite the eco-evolutionary relevance of this key phenological adaptation, its molecular regulation has only recently begun to be addressed. Here, we analyze skin transcription changes during the autumn molt of the mountain hare (Lepus timidus) and integrate the results with an established model of gene regulation across the spring molt of the closely related snowshoe hare (L. americanus). We quantified differences in gene expression among three stages of molt progression-"brown" (early molt), "intermediate," and "white" (late molt). We found 632 differentially expressed genes, with a major pulse of expression early in the molt, followed by a milder one in late molt. The functional makeup of differentially expressed genes anchored the sampled molt stages to the developmental timeline of the hair growth cycle, associating anagen to early molt and the transition to catagen to late molt. The progression of color change was characterized by differential expression of genes involved in pigmentation, circadian, and behavioral regulation. We found significant overlap between differentially expressed genes across the seasonal molts of mountain and snowshoe hares, particularly at molt onset, suggesting conservatism of gene regulation across species and seasons. However, some discrepancies suggest seasonal differences in melanocyte differentiation and the integration of nutritional cues. Our established regulatory model of seasonal coat color molt provides an important mechanistic context to study the functional architecture and evolution of this crucial seasonal adaptation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mafalda S. Ferreira
- CIBIOCentro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos GenéticosInBIO Laboratório AssociadoUniversidade do PortoVairãoPortugal
- Departamento de BiologiaFaculdade de Ciências da Universidade do PortoPortoPortugal
| | - Paulo C. Alves
- CIBIOCentro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos GenéticosInBIO Laboratório AssociadoUniversidade do PortoVairãoPortugal
- Departamento de BiologiaFaculdade de Ciências da Universidade do PortoPortoPortugal
- Wildlife Biology ProgramUniversity of MontanaMissoulaMTUSA
| | | | - Iwona Giska
- CIBIOCentro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos GenéticosInBIO Laboratório AssociadoUniversidade do PortoVairãoPortugal
| | - Liliana Farelo
- CIBIOCentro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos GenéticosInBIO Laboratório AssociadoUniversidade do PortoVairãoPortugal
| | - Hannes Jenny
- Amt für Jagd und Fischerei GraubündenChurSwitzerland
| | - L. Scott Mills
- Wildlife Biology ProgramUniversity of MontanaMissoulaMTUSA
- Office of Research and Creative ScholarshipUniversity of MontanaMissoulaMTUSA
| | - Klaus Hackländer
- Institute of Wildlife Biology and Game ManagementBOKU—University of Natural Resources and Life SciencesViennaAustria
| | - Jeffrey M. Good
- Wildlife Biology ProgramUniversity of MontanaMissoulaMTUSA
- Division of Biological SciencesUniversity of MontanaMissoulaMTUSA
| | - José Melo‐Ferreira
- CIBIOCentro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos GenéticosInBIO Laboratório AssociadoUniversidade do PortoVairãoPortugal
- Departamento de BiologiaFaculdade de Ciências da Universidade do PortoPortoPortugal
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14
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Kim BM, Lee WY, Rhee JS. Complete mitochondrial genome of the Arctic hare, Lepus arcticus. MITOCHONDRIAL DNA PART B-RESOURCES 2019; 4:3621-3623. [PMID: 33366112 PMCID: PMC7707595 DOI: 10.1080/23802359.2019.1677193] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
In this study, we report on the complete mitochondrial genome of the Arctic hare, Lepus arcticus (Leporidae; Lagomorpha) a large lagomorph endemic to the northernmost regions of Greenland. The complete mitogenome of L. arcticus was 16,972 bp long and was typical of genus Lepus mitogenomes in genomic content and structure, as the entire mitogenome contained 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), two ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes, 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, and one control region. The phylogenetic analysis of the Arctic hare within Leporidae confirmed the sister relationship among Lepus species. This mitogenome sequence will provide a useful resource for investigations of biogeography, phylogenetic distance, and evolutionary history in lagomorphs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bo-Mi Kim
- Unit of Polar Genomics, Korea Polar Research Institute, Incheon, South Korea
| | - Won Young Lee
- Division of Polar Life Sciences, Korea Polar Research Institute, Incheon, South Korea
| | - Jae-Sung Rhee
- Department of Marine Science, College of Natural Sciences, Incheon National University, Incheon, South Korea.,Research Institute of Basic Sciences, Incheon National University, Incheon, South Korea
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15
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The evolutionary history of the Cape hare (Lepus capensis sensu lato): insights for systematics and biogeography. Heredity (Edinb) 2019; 123:634-646. [PMID: 31073237 DOI: 10.1038/s41437-019-0229-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2018] [Revised: 04/11/2019] [Accepted: 04/19/2019] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Inferring the phylogeography of species with large distributions helps deciphering major diversification patterns that may occur in parallel across taxa. Here, we infer the evolutionary history of the Cape hare, Lepus capensis sensu lato, a species distributed from southern Africa to Asia, by analyzing variation at 18 microsatellites and 9 DNA (1 mitochondrial and 8 nuclear) sequenced loci, from field and museum-collected samples. Using a combination of assignment and coalescent-based methods, we show that the Cape hare is composed of five evolutionary lineages, distributed in distinct biogeographic regions-north-western Africa, eastern Africa, southern Africa, the Near East and the Arabian Peninsula. A deep phylogenetic break possibly dating to the Early Pleistocene was inferred between the African and Asian L. capensis groups, and the latter appear more closely related to other Eurasian hare species than to African Cape hares. The inferred phylogeographic structure is shared by numerous taxa distributed across the studied range, suggesting that environmental changes, such as the progressive aridification of the Saharo-Arabian desert and the fluctuations of savannah habitats in Sub-Saharan Africa, had comparable impacts across species. Fine-scale analyses of the western Sahara-Sahel populations showed rich fragmentation patterns for mitochondrial DNA but not for microsatellites, compatible with the environmental heterogeneity of the region and female philopatry. The complex evolutionary history of L. capensis sensu lato, which possibly includes interspecific gene flow, is not reflected by taxonomy. Integrating evolutionary inference contributes to an improved characterization of biodiversity, which is fundamental to foster the conservation of relevant evolutionary units.
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16
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Kinoshita G, Nunome M, Kryukov AP, Kartavtseva IV, Han SH, Yamada F, Suzuki H. Contrasting phylogeographic histories between the continent and islands of East Asia: Massive mitochondrial introgression and long-term isolation of hares (Lagomorpha: Lepus). Mol Phylogenet Evol 2019; 136:65-75. [PMID: 30951923 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2019.04.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2018] [Revised: 03/19/2019] [Accepted: 04/01/2019] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
Hares of the genus Lepus are distributed worldwide, and introgressive hybridization is thought to be pervasive among species, leading to reticulate evolution and taxonomic confusion. Here, we performed phylogeographic analyses of the following species of hare across East Asia: L. timidus, L. mandshuricus, L. coreanus, and L. brachyurus collected from far-eastern Russia, South Korea, and Japan. Nucleotide sequences of one mitochondrial DNA and eight nuclear gene loci were examined, adding sequences of hares in China from databases. All nuclear DNA analyses supported the clear separation of three phylogroups: L. timidus, L. brachyurus, and the L. mandshuricus complex containing L. coreanus. On the other hand, massive mitochondrial introgression from two L. timidus lineages to the L. mandshuricus complex was suggested in continental East Asia. The northern population of the L. mandshuricus complex was mainly associated with introgression from the continental lineage of L. timidus, possibly since the last glacial period, whereas the southern population of the L. mandshuricus complex experienced introgression from another L. timidus lineage related to the Hokkaido population, possibly before the last glacial period. In contrast to continental hares, no evidence of introgression was found in L. brachyurus in the Japanese Archipelago, which showed the oldest divergence amongst East Asian hare lineages. Our findings suggest that glacial-interglacial climate changes in the circum-Japan Sea region promoted distribution shifts and introgressive hybridization among continental hare species, while the geographic structure of the region contributed to long-term isolation of hares on the islands, preventing inter-species gene flow.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gohta Kinoshita
- Course in Ecological Genetics, Graduate School of Environmental Science, Hokkaido University, N10W5, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan; Laboratory of Forest Biology Division of Forest & Biomaterials Science, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa-oiwake, Sakyoku, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan.
| | - Mitsuo Nunome
- Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Graduate School of Bioagricultural Science, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan
| | - Alexey P Kryukov
- Laboratory of Evolutionary Zoology and Genetics, Federal Scientific Center of the East Asia Terrestrial Biodiversity, Far East Branch Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok 690022, Russia
| | - Irina V Kartavtseva
- Laboratory of Evolutionary Zoology and Genetics, Federal Scientific Center of the East Asia Terrestrial Biodiversity, Far East Branch Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok 690022, Russia
| | - San-Hoon Han
- Inter-Korea Wildlife Institute, Namtong-dong, Gumi-si, Kyeongsang-Bukdo 39301, Republic of Korea
| | - Fumio Yamada
- Laboratory of Wildlife Ecology, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute (FFPRI), Matsunosato, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8687, Japan
| | - Hitoshi Suzuki
- Course in Ecological Genetics, Graduate School of Environmental Science, Hokkaido University, N10W5, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan
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17
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Silva SM, Ruedas LA, Santos LH, e Silva JDS, Aleixo A. Illuminating the obscured phylogenetic radiation of South American SylvilagusGray, 1867 (Lagomorpha: Leporidae). J Mammal 2019. [DOI: 10.1093/jmammal/gyy186] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Sofia Marques Silva
- Coordenação de Zoologia, Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Campus de Pesquisa, Avenida Perimetral, CEP, Belém, Pará, Brazil
| | - Luis A Ruedas
- Coordenação de Zoologia, Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Campus de Pesquisa, Avenida Perimetral, CEP, Belém, Pará, Brazil
| | - Larissa Hasnah Santos
- Portland State University, Department of Biology and Museum of Natural History, SRTC-246, Portland, OR, USA
| | - José de Sousa e Silva
- Coordenação de Zoologia, Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Campus de Pesquisa, Avenida Perimetral, CEP, Belém, Pará, Brazil
| | - Alexandre Aleixo
- Coordenação de Zoologia, Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Campus de Pesquisa, Avenida Perimetral, CEP, Belém, Pará, Brazil
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18
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Kostin DS, Lavrenchenko LA. Adaptation of Rodents Living in a Highland: Combination of Mitochondrial Introgression and Convergent Molecular Evolution. DOKL BIOCHEM BIOPHYS 2019; 483:333-336. [DOI: 10.1134/s160767291806011x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2018] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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19
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Large-scale mitochondrial DNA analysis reveals new light on the phylogeography of Central and Eastern-European Brown hare (Lepus europaeus Pallas, 1778). PLoS One 2018; 13:e0204653. [PMID: 30286121 PMCID: PMC6171851 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0204653] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2018] [Accepted: 09/12/2018] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
European brown hare, Lepus europaeus, from Central and Eastern European countries (Hungary, Poland, Serbia, Lithuania, Romania, Georgia and Italy) were sampled, and phylogenetic analyses were carried out on two datasets: 1.) 137 sequences (358 bp) of control region mtDNA; and 2.) 105 sequences of a concatenated fragment (916 bp), including the cytochrome b, tRNA-Thr, tRNA-Pro and control region mitochondrial DNA. Our sequences were aligned with additional brown hare sequences from GenBank. A total of 52 and 51 haplotypes were detected within the two datasets, respectively, and assigned to two previously described major lineages: Anatolian/Middle Eastern (AME) and European (EUR). Furthermore, the European lineage was divided into two subclades including South Eastern European (SEE) and Central European (CE). Sympatric distribution of the lineages of the brown hare in South-Eastern and Eastern Europe revealed contact zones there. BAPS analysis assigned sequences from L. europaeus to five genetic clusters, whereas CE individuals were assigned to only one cluster, and AME and SEE sequences were each assigned to two clusters. Our findings uncover numerous novel haplotypes of Anatolian/Middle Eastern brown hare outside their main range, as evidence for the combined influence of Late Pleistocene climatic fluctuations and anthropogenic activities in shaping the phylogeographic structure of the species. Our results support the hypothesis of a postglacial brown hare expansion from Anatolia and the Balkan Peninsula to Central and Eastern Europe, and suggest some slight introgression of individual haplotypes from L. timidus to L. europaeus.
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20
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Seixas FA, Boursot P, Melo-Ferreira J. The genomic impact of historical hybridization with massive mitochondrial DNA introgression. Genome Biol 2018; 19:91. [PMID: 30056805 PMCID: PMC6065068 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-018-1471-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2018] [Accepted: 06/25/2018] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The extent to which selection determines interspecific patterns of genetic exchange enlightens the role of adaptation in evolution and speciation. Often reported extensive interspecific introgression could be selection-driven, but also result from demographic processes, especially in cases of invasive species replacements, which can promote introgression at their invasion front. Because invasion and selective sweeps similarly mold variation, population genetics evidence for selection can only be gathered in an explicit demographic framework. The Iberian hare, Lepus granatensis, displays in its northern range extensive mitochondrial DNA introgression from L. timidus, an arctic/boreal species that it replaced locally after the last glacial maximum. We use whole-genome sequencing to infer geographic and genomic patterns of nuclear introgression and fit a neutral model of species replacement with hybridization, allowing us to evaluate how selection influenced introgression genome-wide, including for mtDNA. RESULTS Although the average nuclear and mtDNA introgression patterns contrast strongly, they fit a single demographic model of post-glacial invasive replacement of timidus by granatensis. Outliers of elevated introgression include several genes related to immunity, spermatogenesis, and mitochondrial metabolism. Introgression is reduced on the X chromosome and in low recombining regions. CONCLUSIONS General nuclear and mtDNA patterns of introgression can be explained by purely demographic processes. Hybrid incompatibilities and interplay between selection and recombination locally modulate levels of nuclear introgression. Selection promoted introgression of some genes involved in conflicts, either interspecific (parasites) or possibly cytonuclear. In the latter case, nuclear introgression could mitigate the potential negative effects of alien mtDNA on mitochondrial metabolism and male-specific traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fernando A Seixas
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, 4485-661, Vairão, Portugal
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Rua Campo Alegre s/n, 4169-007, Porto, Portugal
- Institut des Sciences de l'Évolution, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, EPHE, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095, Montpellier, France
| | - Pierre Boursot
- Institut des Sciences de l'Évolution, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, EPHE, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095, Montpellier, France.
| | - José Melo-Ferreira
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, 4485-661, Vairão, Portugal.
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Rua Campo Alegre s/n, 4169-007, Porto, Portugal.
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21
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Zhang L, Sun K, Liu T, Zhao H, Csorba G, Jin L, Thong VD, Feng J. Multilocus phylogeny and species delimitation within the philippinensis
group (Chiroptera: Rhinolophidae). ZOOL SCR 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/zsc.12308] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Lin Zhang
- Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resource Conservation and Utilization; Northeast Normal University; Changchun China
| | - Keping Sun
- Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resource Conservation and Utilization; Northeast Normal University; Changchun China
| | - Tong Liu
- Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resource Conservation and Utilization; Northeast Normal University; Changchun China
| | - Hanbo Zhao
- Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resource Conservation and Utilization; Northeast Normal University; Changchun China
| | - Gábor Csorba
- Department of Zoology; Hungarian Natural History Museum; Budapest Hungary
| | - Longru Jin
- Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resource Conservation and Utilization; Northeast Normal University; Changchun China
| | - Vu Dinh Thong
- Graduate University of Science and Technology; Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology; Hanoi Vietnam
- Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources; Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology; Hanoi Vietnam
| | - Jiang Feng
- Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resource Conservation and Utilization; Northeast Normal University; Changchun China
- Jilin Agricultural University; Changchun China
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22
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Jones MR, Mills LS, Alves PC, Callahan CM, Alves JM, Lafferty DJR, Jiggins FM, Jensen JD, Melo-Ferreira J, Good JM. Adaptive introgression underlies polymorphic seasonal camouflage in snowshoe hares. Science 2018; 360:1355-1358. [DOI: 10.1126/science.aar5273] [Citation(s) in RCA: 182] [Impact Index Per Article: 30.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2017] [Accepted: 05/01/2018] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus) maintain seasonal camouflage by molting to a white winter coat, but some hares remain brown during the winter in regions with low snow cover. We show that cis-regulatory variation controlling seasonal expression of the Agouti gene underlies this adaptive winter camouflage polymorphism. Genetic variation at Agouti clustered by winter coat color across multiple hare and jackrabbit species, revealing a history of recurrent interspecific gene flow. Brown winter coats in snowshoe hares likely originated from an introgressed black-tailed jackrabbit allele that has swept to high frequency in mild winter environments. These discoveries show that introgression of genetic variants that underlie key ecological traits can seed past and ongoing adaptation to rapidly changing environments.
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23
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Ivanov V, Lee KM, Mutanen M. Mitonuclear discordance in wolf spiders: Genomic evidence for species integrity and introgression. Mol Ecol 2018; 27:1681-1695. [PMID: 29575366 DOI: 10.1111/mec.14564] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2017] [Revised: 02/23/2018] [Accepted: 03/01/2018] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Systematists and taxonomists have benefited greatly from the emergence of molecular methods. Species identification has become straightforward through DNA barcoding and the rapid build-up of massive DNA barcode reference libraries. In animals, mitonuclear discordance can significantly complicate the process of species identification and delimitation. The causes of mitonuclear discordance are either biological (e.g., introgression, incomplete lineage sorting, horizontal gene transfer androgenesis) or induced by operational factors (e.g., human error with specimen misidentification or incorrect species delimitation). Moreover, endosymbionts may play an important role in promoting fixation of mitochondrial genomes. Here, we study the mitonuclear discordance of wolf spiders species (Lycosidae) (independent cases from Alopecosa aculeata and Pardosa pullata groups) that share identical COI DNA barcodes. We approached the case utilizing double-digest restriction site-associated DNA sequencing (ddRADseq) to obtain and analyse genomic-scale data. Our results suggest that the observed cases of mitonuclear discordance are not due to operational reasons but result from biological processes. Further analysis indicated introgression and that incomplete lineage sorting is unlikely to have been responsible for the observed discrepancy. Additional survey of endosymbionts provided ideas on further research and their role in shaping mitochondrial DNA distribution patterns. Thus, ddRADseq grants an efficient way to study the taxonomy of problematic groups with insight into underlying evolutionary processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vladislav Ivanov
- Department of Ecology and Genetics, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | - Kyung Min Lee
- Department of Ecology and Genetics, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | - Marko Mutanen
- Department of Ecology and Genetics, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
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The Microtus voles: Resolving the phylogeny of one of the most speciose mammalian genera using genomics. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2018; 125:85-92. [PMID: 29574272 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2018.03.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2017] [Revised: 01/03/2018] [Accepted: 03/14/2018] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Sequential rapid radiations pose some of the greatest difficulties in phylogenetics, especially when analysing only a small number of genetic markers. Given that most of the speciation events occur in quick succession at various points in time, this creates particular challenges in determining phylogenetic relationships, i.e. branching order and divergence times. With the development of high throughput sequencing, thousands of markers can now readily be used to tackle these issues. Microtus is a speciose genus currently composed of 65 species that evolved over the last 2 million years. Although it is a well-studied group, there is still phylogenetic uncertainty at various divergence levels. Building upon previous studies that generally used small numbers of mitochondrial and/or nuclear loci, in this genomic-scale study we used both mitochondrial and nuclear data to study the rapid radiation within Microtus, using partial mitogenomes and genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) on seven species representing five Microtus subgenera and the main biogeographic ranges where this group occurs. Both types of genome (mitochondrial and nuclear) generated similar tree topologies, with a basal split of the Nearctic (M. ochrogaster) and Holarctic (M. oeconomus) species, and then a subdivision of the five Palearctic species into two subgroups. These data support the occurrence of two European radiations, one North American radiation, and a later expansion of M. oeconomus from Asia to both Europe and North America. We further resolved the positioning of M. cabrerae as sister group of M. agrestis and refute the claim that M. cabrerae should be elevated to its own genus (Iberomys). Finally, the data support ongoing speciation events, especially within M. agrestis, with high levels of genetic divergence between the three Evolutionarily Significant Units (ESUs) previously identified. Similar high levels of divergence were also found among ESUs within M. oeconomus and M. arvalis.
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25
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Zimova M, Hackländer K, Good JM, Melo‐Ferreira J, Alves PC, Mills LS. Function and underlying mechanisms of seasonal colour moulting in mammals and birds: what keeps them changing in a warming world? Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2018; 93:1478-1498. [DOI: 10.1111/brv.12405] [Citation(s) in RCA: 81] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2017] [Revised: 02/06/2018] [Accepted: 02/09/2018] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Marketa Zimova
- Wildlife Biology Program University of Montana Missoula MT 59812 U.S.A
- Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology Program, Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources North Carolina State University Raleigh NC 27695 U.S.A
| | - Klaus Hackländer
- Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology Program, Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources North Carolina State University Raleigh NC 27695 U.S.A
- Institute of Wildlife Biology and Game Management BOKU ‐ University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna 1180 Austria
| | - Jeffrey M. Good
- Division of Biological Sciences University of Montana Missoula MT 59812 USA
| | - José Melo‐Ferreira
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado Universidade do Porto Campus Agrário de Vairão, 4485‐661 Vairão Portugal
- Departamento de Biologia Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto Rua do Campo Alegre, 4169‐007 Porto Portugal
| | - Paulo Célio Alves
- Wildlife Biology Program University of Montana Missoula MT 59812 U.S.A
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado Universidade do Porto Campus Agrário de Vairão, 4485‐661 Vairão Portugal
- Departamento de Biologia Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto Rua do Campo Alegre, 4169‐007 Porto Portugal
| | - L. Scott Mills
- Wildlife Biology Program and Office of Research and Creative Scholarship University of Montana Missoula MT 59812 USA
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Dalquen DA, Zhu T, Yang Z. Maximum Likelihood Implementation of an Isolation-with-Migration Model for Three Species. Syst Biol 2018; 66:379-398. [PMID: 27486180 DOI: 10.1093/sysbio/syw063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2015] [Accepted: 07/08/2016] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
We develop a maximum likelihood (ML) method for estimating migration rates between species using genomic sequence data. A species tree is used to accommodate the phylogenetic relationships among three species, allowing for migration between the two sister species, while the third species is used as an out-group. A Markov chain characterization of the genealogical process of coalescence and migration is used to integrate out the migration histories at each locus analytically, whereas Gaussian quadrature is used to integrate over the coalescent times on each genealogical tree numerically. This is an extension of our early implementation of the symmetrical isolation-with-migration model for three species to accommodate arbitrary loci with two or three sequences per locus and to allow asymmetrical migration rates. Our implementation can accommodate tens of thousands of loci, making it feasible to analyze genome-scale data sets to test for gene flow. We calculate the posterior probabilities of gene trees at individual loci to identify genomic regions that are likely to have been transferred between species due to gene flow. We conduct a simulation study to examine the statistical properties of the likelihood ratio test for gene flow between the two in-group species and of the ML estimates of model parameters such as the migration rate. Inclusion of data from a third out-group species is found to increase dramatically the power of the test and the precision of parameter estimation. We compiled and analyzed several genomic data sets from the Drosophila fruit flies. Our analyses suggest no migration from D. melanogaster to D. simulans, and a significant amount of gene flow from D. simulans to D. melanogaster, at the rate of ~0.02 migrant individuals per generation. We discuss the utility of the multispecies coalescent model for species tree estimation, accounting for incomplete lineage sorting and migration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel A Dalquen
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, Darwin Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Tianqi Zhu
- Center for Computational Genomics, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Ziheng Yang
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, Darwin Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK.,Center for Computational Genomics, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
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Lebedev VS, Bannikova AA, Lu L, Snytnikov EA, Adiya Y, Solovyeva EN, Abramov AV, Surov AV, Shenbrot GI. Phylogeographical study reveals high genetic diversity in a widespread desert rodent, Dipus sagitta (Dipodidae: Rodentia). Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2018. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blx090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Vladimir S Lebedev
- Zoological Museum, Moscow State University, B.Nikitskaya, Moscow, Russia
| | - Anna A Bannikova
- Lomonosov Moscow State University, Vorobievy Gory, Moscow, Russia
| | - Liang Lu
- State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Centre of Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China
| | | | - Yansanjav Adiya
- Institute of General and Experimental Biology of Mongolian Academy of Science, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
| | | | - Alexei V Abramov
- Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Universitetskaya nab., St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Alexei V Surov
- Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninskii pr., Moscow, Russia
| | - Georgy I Shenbrot
- Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel
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28
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Delibes-Mateos M, Castro F, Piorno V, Ramírez E, Blanco-Aguiar JA, Aparicio F, Mínguez LE, Ferreira CC, Rouco C, Ríos-Saldaña CA, Recuerda P, Villafuerte R. First assessment of the potential introduction by hunters of eastern cottontail rabbits (Sylvilagus floridanus) in Spain. WILDLIFE RESEARCH 2018. [DOI: 10.1071/wr17185] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Context
Humans have introduced lagomorph species in areas outside their native ranges for their meat, fur or value as game species. Assessing the rate of success of lagomorph introductions is vital to address the ecological damage they may cause. Cases of failed lagomorph introductions in apparently suitable areas may also shed light on mechanisms that may deter invasion, which are useful in developing strategies for population control. In Spain, it has been suggested that hunters introduced the non-native eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus) to compensate for the recent drastic declines of the native European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus).
Aims
Our main goals were to investigate (1) whether Sylvilagus rabbits have indeed been introduced by hunters across Spain, and (2) whether the species has become established in Spanish ecosystems.
Methods
We interviewed 311 hunters or naturalists across Spain. The questionnaires inquired about the characteristics of game management in each locality, including the frequency of rabbit restocking, and particularly whether Sylvilagus rabbits had been released in the surveyed localities. In addition, we sampled 192 rabbit populations (n=3974 individuals) across Spain by using molecular analysis to determine whether Sylvilagus rabbits were present in these areas.
Key results
Our interview results suggest that Sylvilagus rabbits may have been released in 6% of the 311 localities surveyed. However, molecular analyses failed to confirm their persistence, because all samples belonged to O. cuniculus.
Conclusions
We infer that Sylvilagus rabbits failed to establish themselves in Spain, although interviewees reported their introduction. Several reasons may explain the unsuccessful establishment of this species, such as a low propagule pressure, competition with native species, predation, inability to cope with local pathogens and unsuitable climatic conditions.
Implications
The risk of future introductions of non-native game species can be reduced through the implementation of stricter regulations of animal releases into the wild. Long-term monitoring networks should be developed to help identify non-native game species before they become established and spread to neighbouring areas, thereby preventing any ecological or economic impacts these species may cause.
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Marques JP, Ferreira MS, Farelo L, Callahan CM, Hackländer K, Jenny H, Montgomery WI, Reid N, Good JM, Alves PC, Melo-Ferreira J. Mountain hare transcriptome and diagnostic markers as resources to monitor hybridization with European hares. Sci Data 2017; 4:170178. [PMID: 29206218 PMCID: PMC5716010 DOI: 10.1038/sdata.2017.178] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2017] [Accepted: 10/13/2017] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
We report the first mountain hare (Lepus timidus) transcriptome, produced by de novo assembly of RNA-sequencing reads. Data were obtained from eight specimens sampled in two localities, Alps and Ireland. The mountain hare tends to be replaced by the invading European hare (Lepus europaeus) in their numerous contact zones where the species hybridize, which affects their gene pool to a yet unquantified degree. We characterize and annotate the mountain hare transcriptome, detect polymorphism in the two analysed populations and use previously published data on the European hare (three specimens, representing the European lineage of the species) to identify 4 672 putative diagnostic sites between the species. A subset of 85 random independent SNPs was successfully validated using PCR and Sanger sequencing. These valuable genomic resources can be used to design tools to assess population status and monitor hybridization between species.
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Affiliation(s)
- João P. Marques
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, Vairão 4485-661, Portugal
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências do Porto, Porto 4169-007, Portugal
| | - Mafalda S. Ferreira
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, Vairão 4485-661, Portugal
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências do Porto, Porto 4169-007, Portugal
| | - Liliana Farelo
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, Vairão 4485-661, Portugal
| | - Colin M. Callahan
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, 32 Campus Drive, Missoula, MT 59812, USA
| | - Klaus Hackländer
- Institute of Wildlife Biology and Game Management, BOKU-University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna 1180, Austria
| | - Hannes Jenny
- Amt für Jagd und Fischerei Graubünden, Chur 7001, Switzerland
| | - W. Ian Montgomery
- Institute of Global Food Security, School of Biological Sciences, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT9 5BN, UK
- School of Biological Sciences, Queen’s University Belfast, 97 Lisburn Road, Belfast BT9 7BL, UK
| | - Neil Reid
- Institute of Global Food Security, School of Biological Sciences, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT9 5BN, UK
- School of Biological Sciences, Queen’s University Belfast, 97 Lisburn Road, Belfast BT9 7BL, UK
| | - Jeffrey M. Good
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, 32 Campus Drive, Missoula, MT 59812, USA
| | - Paulo C. Alves
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, Vairão 4485-661, Portugal
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências do Porto, Porto 4169-007, Portugal
| | - José Melo-Ferreira
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, Vairão 4485-661, Portugal
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências do Porto, Porto 4169-007, Portugal
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Armella Sierra AB, Castillo ER, Labaroni C, Barrandeguy ME, Martí DA, Ojeda R, Lanzone C. Genetic studies in the recently divergent Eligmodontia puerulus and E. moreni (Rodentia, Cricetidae, Sigmodontinae) from Puna and Monte deserts of South America. Mamm Biol 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.mambio.2017.06.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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Tolesa Z, Bekele E, Tesfaye K, Ben Slimen H, Valqui J, Getahun A, Hartl GB, Suchentrunk F. Mitochondrial and nuclear DNA reveals reticulate evolution in hares (Lepus spp., Lagomorpha, Mammalia) from Ethiopia. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0180137. [PMID: 28767659 PMCID: PMC5540492 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0180137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2017] [Accepted: 06/10/2017] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
For hares (Lepus spp., Leporidae, Lagomorpha, Mammalia) from Ethiopia no conclusive molecular phylogenetic data are available. To provide a first molecular phylogenetic model for the Abyssinian Hare (Lepus habessinicus), the Ethiopian Hare (L. fagani), and the Ethiopian Highland Hare (L. starcki) and their evolutionary relationships to hares from Africa, Eurasia, and North America, we phylogenetically analysed mitochondrial ATPase subunit 6 (ATP6; n = 153 / 416bp) and nuclear transferrin (TF; n = 155 / 434bp) sequences of phenotypically determined individuals. For the hares from Ethiopia, genotype composition at twelve microsatellite loci (n = 107) was used to explore both interspecific gene pool separation and levels of current hybridization, as has been observed in some other Lepus species. For phylogenetic analyses ATP6 and TF sequences of Lepus species from South and North Africa (L. capensis, L. saxatilis), the Anatolian peninsula and Europe (L. europaeus, L. timidus) were also produced and additional TF sequences of 18 Lepus species retrieved from GenBank were included as well. Median joining networks, neighbour joining, maximum likelihood analyses, as well as Bayesian inference resulted in similar models of evolution of the three species from Ethiopia for the ATP6 and TF sequences, respectively. The Ethiopian species are, however, not monophyletic, with signatures of contemporary uni- and bidirectional mitochondrial introgression and/ or shared ancestral polymorphism. Lepus habessinicus carries mtDNA distinct from South African L. capensis and North African L. capensis sensu lato; that finding is not in line with earlier suggestions of its conspecificity with L. capensis. Lepus starcki has mtDNA distinct from L. capensis and L. europaeus, which is not in line with earlier suggestions to include it either in L. capensis or L. europaeus. Lepus fagani shares mitochondrial haplotypes with the other two species from Ethiopia, despite its distinct phenotypic and microsatellite differences; moreover, it is not represented by a species-specific mitochondrial haplogroup, suggesting considerable mitochondrial capture by the other species from Ethiopia or species from other parts of Africa. Both mitochondrial and nuclear sequences indicate close phylogenetic relationships among all three Lepus species from Ethiopia, with L. fagani being surprisingly tightly connected to L. habessinicus. TF sequences suggest close evolutionary relationships between the three Ethiopian species and Cape hares from South and North Africa; they further suggest that hares from Ethiopia hold a position ancestral to many Eurasian and North American species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zelalem Tolesa
- Department of Biology, Hawassa University, Hawassa, Ethiopia
- Zoologisches Institut, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Kiel, Germany
- Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Endashaw Bekele
- Department of Microbial, Cellular, and Molecular Biology, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Kassahun Tesfaye
- Department of Microbial, Cellular, and Molecular Biology, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- Centre of Biotechnology, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Hichem Ben Slimen
- Institut Supérieur de Biotechnologie de Béja, Avenue Habib Bourguiba, Béja, Tunisia
| | - Juan Valqui
- Zoologisches Institut, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Kiel, Germany
| | - Abebe Getahun
- Department of Zoological Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Günther B. Hartl
- Zoologisches Institut, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Kiel, Germany
| | - Franz Suchentrunk
- Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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Abstract
Abstract
Conservation planning of threatened taxa relies upon accurate data on systematics, ecological traits and suitable habitats. The genus Gazella includes taxa with distinct morphologies and ecological traits, but close phylogenetic relationships. The North African Gazella cuvieri and Gazella leptoceros loderi share morphological and physiological characters but the former is darker and found in mountain areas, while the latter is lighter and associated with sand dunes. Here we aim to assess the genetic distinctiveness of these taxa, to characterize their ecological niches and to identify potential occurrence areas, by analysing 327 samples across North-West Africa. Phylogenetic analyses based on mitochondrial (CYTB) and five nuclear gene fragments (KCAS, LAC, SPTBN1, PRKCI and THYR) show that both taxa comprise a single monophyletic group. However, ecological niche-based modelling suggests that populations of these taxa occupy distinct geographic areas and specific environments. Predicted areas of sympatry were restricted, as a consequence of local sharp transitions in climatic traits. The lack of genetic differentiation between these taxa suggests they should be lumped into G. cuvieri, while ecological and morphological differences indicate they correspond to distinct ecotypes. Conservation planning of G. cuvieri should consider the preservation of both mountain and lowland ecotypes to maintain the overall adaptive potential of the species. This integrative approach provides valuable insights in identifying evolutionary units and should be extended to other gazelles.
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Challenges in Species Tree Estimation Under the Multispecies Coalescent Model. Genetics 2017; 204:1353-1368. [PMID: 27927902 DOI: 10.1534/genetics.116.190173] [Citation(s) in RCA: 89] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2016] [Accepted: 09/25/2016] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The multispecies coalescent (MSC) model has emerged as a powerful framework for inferring species phylogenies while accounting for ancestral polymorphism and gene tree-species tree conflict. A number of methods have been developed in the past few years to estimate the species tree under the MSC. The full likelihood methods (including maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference) average over the unknown gene trees and accommodate their uncertainties properly but involve intensive computation. The approximate or summary coalescent methods are computationally fast and are applicable to genomic datasets with thousands of loci, but do not make an efficient use of information in the multilocus data. Most of them take the two-step approach of reconstructing the gene trees for multiple loci by phylogenetic methods and then treating the estimated gene trees as observed data, without accounting for their uncertainties appropriately. In this article we review the statistical nature of the species tree estimation problem under the MSC, and explore the conceptual issues and challenges of species tree estimation by focusing mainly on simple cases of three or four closely related species. We use mathematical analysis and computer simulation to demonstrate that large differences in statistical performance may exist between the two classes of methods. We illustrate that several counterintuitive behaviors may occur with the summary methods but they are due to inefficient use of information in the data by summary methods and vanish when the data are analyzed using full-likelihood methods. These include (i) unidentifiability of parameters in the model, (ii) inconsistency in the so-called anomaly zone, (iii) singularity on the likelihood surface, and (iv) deterioration of performance upon addition of more data. We discuss the challenges and strategies of species tree inference for distantly related species when the molecular clock is violated, and highlight the need for improving the computational efficiency and model realism of the likelihood methods as well as the statistical efficiency of the summary methods.
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Ren Z, Chen H, Yang X, Zhang C. Phylogenetic analysis of Tibetan mastiffs based on mitochondrial hypervariable region I. J Genet 2017; 96:119-125. [PMID: 28360396 DOI: 10.1007/s12041-017-0753-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Recently, the number of Tibetan mastiffs, which is a precious germplasm resource and cultural heritage, is decreasing sharply. Therefore, the genetic diversity of Tibetan mastiffs needs to be studied to clarify its phylogenetics relationships and lay the foundation for resource protection, rational development and utilization of Tibetan mastiffs. We sequenced hypervariable region I of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of 110 individuals from Tibet region and Gansu province. A total of 12 polymorphic sites were identified which defined eight haplotypes of which H4 and H8 were unique to Tibetan population with H8 being identified first. The haplotype diversity (Hd: 0.808), nucleotide diversity (Pi: 0.603%), the average number of nucleotide difference (K: 3.917) of Tibetan mastiffs from Gansu were higher than those from Tibet region (Hd: 0.794; Pi: 0.589%; K: 3.831), which revealed higher genetic diversity in Gansu. In terms of total population, the genetic variation was low. The median-joining network and phylogenetic tree based on the mtDNA hypervariable region I showed that Tibetan mastiffs originated from grey wolves, as the other domestic dogs and had different history of maternal origin. The mismatch distribution analysis and neutrality tests indicated that Tibetan mastiffs were in genetic equilibrium or in a population decline.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhanjun Ren
- College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, People's Republic of China.
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35
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Havelka J, Rakauskas R, Turčinavičienė J. Exotic aphid species Brachycaudus divaricatae in Central Europe: Distribution, host specificity and molecular diversity. Biologia (Bratisl) 2017. [DOI: 10.1515/biolog-2017-0027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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Range expansion underlies historical introgressive hybridization in the Iberian hare. Sci Rep 2017; 7:40788. [PMID: 28120863 PMCID: PMC5264399 DOI: 10.1038/srep40788] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2016] [Accepted: 12/09/2016] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Introgressive hybridization is an important and widespread evolutionary process, but the relative roles of neutral demography and natural selection in promoting massive introgression are difficult to assess and an important matter of debate. Hares from the Iberian Peninsula provide an appropriate system to study this question. In its northern range, the Iberian hare, Lepus granatensis, shows a northwards gradient of increasing mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) introgression from the arctic/boreal L. timidus, which it presumably replaced after the last glacial maximum. Here, we asked whether a south-north expansion wave of L. granatensis into L. timidus territory could underlie mtDNA introgression, and whether nuclear genes interacting with mitochondria (“mitonuc” genes) were affected. We extended previous RNA-sequencing and produced a comprehensive annotated transcriptome assembly for L. granatensis. We then genotyped 100 discovered nuclear SNPs in 317 specimens spanning the species range. The distribution of allele frequencies across populations suggests a northwards range expansion, particularly in the region of mtDNA introgression. We found no correlation between variants at 39 mitonuc genes and mtDNA introgression frequency. Whether the nuclear and mitochondrial genomes coevolved will need a thorough investigation of the hundreds of mitonuc genes, but range expansion and species replacement likely promoted massive mtDNA introgression.
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Marques JP, Sotelo G, Larsson T, Johannesson K, Panova M, Faria R. Comparative mitogenomic analysis of three species of periwinkles: Littorina fabalis, L. obtusata and L. saxatilis. Mar Genomics 2016; 32:41-47. [PMID: 27867038 DOI: 10.1016/j.margen.2016.10.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2016] [Revised: 10/16/2016] [Accepted: 10/25/2016] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
The flat periwinkles, Littorina fabalis and L. obtusata, offer an interesting system for local adaptation and ecological speciation studies. In order to provide genomic resources for these species, we sequenced their mitogenomes together with that of the rough periwinkle L. saxatilis by means of next-generation sequencing technologies. The three mitogenomes present the typical repertoire of 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, two ribosomal RNA genes and a putative control region. Although the latter could not be fully recovered in flat periwinkles using short-reads due to a highly repetitive fragment, in L. saxatilis this problem was overcome with additional long-reads and we were able to assemble the complete mitogenome. Both gene order and nucleotide composition are similar between the three species as well as compared to other Littorinimorpha. A large variance in divergence was observed across mitochondrial regions, with six- to ten-fold difference between the highest and the lowest divergence rates. Based on nucleotide changes on the whole molecule and assuming a molecular clock, L. fabalis and L. obtusata started to diverge around 0.8 Mya (0.4-1.1 Mya). The evolution of the mitochondrial protein-coding genes in the three Littorina species appears mainly influenced by purifying selection as revealed by phylogenetic tests based on dN/dS ratios that did not detect any evidence for positive selection, although some caution is required given the limited power of the dataset and the implemented approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- João P Marques
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO, Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal.
| | - Graciela Sotelo
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO, Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal.
| | - Tomas Larsson
- University of Gothenburg, Department of Marine Sciences, Box 460, SE -405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden.
| | - Kerstin Johannesson
- University of Gothenburg, Department of Marine Sciences, Tjärnö, SE -452 96 Strömstad, Sweden.
| | - Marina Panova
- University of Gothenburg, Department of Marine Sciences, Tjärnö, SE -452 96 Strömstad, Sweden.
| | - Rui Faria
- CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO, Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal; IBE, Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-UPF), Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Pompeu Fabra University, Doctor Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain.
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Koju NP, He K, Chalise MK, Ray C, Chen Z, Zhang B, Wan T, Chen S, Jiang X. Multilocus approaches reveal underestimated species diversity and inter-specific gene flow in pikas (Ochotona) from southwestern China. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2016; 107:239-245. [PMID: 27838310 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2016.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2016] [Revised: 11/05/2016] [Accepted: 11/08/2016] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The phylogeny of living pikas (Ochotonidae, Ochotona) remains obscure, and pika species diversity in southwestern China has never been well explored. In this study, 96 tissue samples from 11 valid species in three classified subgenera (Pika, Ochotona and Conothoa) from 23 locations were characterized using multilocus sequences of 7031bp. Two mitochondrial (CYT B and COI) and five nuclear gene segments (RAG1, RAG2, TTN, OXAIL and IL1RAPL1) were sequenced. We analysed evolutionary histories using maximum likelihood (RAxML) and Bayesian analyses (BEAST), and we also used molecular species delimitation analyses (BPP) to explore species diversity. Our study supported O. syrinx (O. huangensis) as a distinct clade from all named subgenera. Relationships among subgenera were not fully resolved, which may be due to a rapid diversification in the middle Miocene (∼13.90Ma). Conflicting gene trees implied mitochondrial introgression from O. cansus to O. curzoniae. We uncovered three cryptic species from Shaanxi, Sichuan and Yunnan with strong support, suggesting an underestimation of species diversity in the "sky-island" mountains of southwest China.
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Affiliation(s)
- Narayan Prasad Koju
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan 650223, China; Kunming College of Life Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, China; Central Department of Zoology, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal
| | - Kai He
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan 650223, China; Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC 20004, USA; The Kyoto University Museum, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan.
| | | | - Chris Ray
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado-Boulder, 450 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309-0450, USA
| | - Zhongzheng Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan 650223, China; Kunming College of Life Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, China
| | - Bin Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan 650223, China; Kunming College of Life Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, China
| | - Tao Wan
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan 650223, China
| | - Shunde Chen
- College of Life Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu 610066, China
| | - Xuelong Jiang
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan 650223, China.
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McLean BS, Jackson DJ, Cook JA. Rapid divergence and gene flow at high latitudes shape the history of Holarctic ground squirrels (Urocitellus). Mol Phylogenet Evol 2016; 102:174-88. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2016.05.040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2015] [Revised: 05/26/2016] [Accepted: 05/31/2016] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Awadi A, Suchentrunk F, Makni M, Ben Slimen H. Variation of partial transferrin sequences and phylogenetic relationships among hares (Lepus capensis, Lagomorpha) from Tunisia. Genetica 2016; 144:497-512. [PMID: 27485731 DOI: 10.1007/s10709-016-9916-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2015] [Accepted: 07/11/2016] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
North African hares are currently included in cape hares, Lepus capensis sensu lato, a taxon that may be considered a superspecies or a complex of closely related species. The existing molecular data, however, are not unequivocal, with mtDNA control region sequences suggesting a separate species status and nuclear loci (allozymes, microsatellites) revealing conspecificity of L. capensis and L. europaeus. Here, we study sequence variation in the intron 6 (468 bp) of the transferrin nuclear gene, of 105 hares with different coat colour from different regions in Tunisia with respect to genetic diversity and differentiation, as well as their phylogenetic status. Forty-six haplotypes (alleles) were revealed and compared phylogenetically to all available TF haplotypes of various Lepus species retrieved from GenBank. Maximum Likelihood, neighbor joining and median joining network analyses concordantly grouped all currently obtained haplotypes together with haplotypes belonging to six different Chinese hare species and the African scrub hare L. saxatilis. Moreover, two Tunisian haploypes were shared with L. capensis, L timidus, L. sinensis, L. yarkandensis, and L. hainanus from China. These results indicated the evolutionary complexity of the genus Lepus with the mixing of nuclear gene haplotypes resulting from introgressive hybridization or/and shared ancestral polymorphism. We report the presence of shared ancestral polymorphism between North African and Chinese hares. This has not been detected earlier in the mtDNA sequences of the same individuals. Genetic diversity of the TF sequences from the Tunisian populations was relatively high compared to other hare populations. However, genetic differentiation and gene flow analyses (AMOVA, FST, Nm) indicated little divergence with the absence of geographically meaningful phylogroups and lack of clustering with coat colour types. These results confirm the presence of a single hare species in Tunisia, but a sound inference on its phylogenetic position would require additional nuclear markers and numerous geographically meaningful samples from Africa and Eurasia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Asma Awadi
- Unité de recherche Génomique des Insectes ravageurs des Cultures d'intérêt agronomique, Université de Tunis El Manar, Tunis, Tunisia.
| | - Franz Suchentrunk
- Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Mohamed Makni
- Unité de recherche Génomique des Insectes ravageurs des Cultures d'intérêt agronomique, Université de Tunis El Manar, Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Hichem Ben Slimen
- Unité de recherche Génomique des Insectes ravageurs des Cultures d'intérêt agronomique, Université de Tunis El Manar, Tunis, Tunisia
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Razkin O, Gómez-Moliner BJ, Vardinoyannis K, Martínez-Ortí A, Madeira MJ. Species delimitation for cryptic species complexes: case study ofPyramidula(Gastropoda, Pulmonata). ZOOL SCR 2016. [DOI: 10.1111/zsc.12192] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Oihana Razkin
- Department of Zoology and Animal Cell Biology; Faculty of Pharmacy; University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU); Paseo de la Universidad 7 01006 Vitoria-Gasteiz Alava Spain
- Biodiversity Research Group CIEA Lucio Lascaray; Avda. Miguel de Unamuno 3 01006 Vitoria-Gasteiz Alava Spain
| | - Benjamín J. Gómez-Moliner
- Department of Zoology and Animal Cell Biology; Faculty of Pharmacy; University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU); Paseo de la Universidad 7 01006 Vitoria-Gasteiz Alava Spain
- Biodiversity Research Group CIEA Lucio Lascaray; Avda. Miguel de Unamuno 3 01006 Vitoria-Gasteiz Alava Spain
| | - Katerina Vardinoyannis
- Natural History Museum of Crete; University of Crete; PO Box 2208 71409 Heraklio Crete Greece
| | - Alberto Martínez-Ortí
- Museu Valencià d'Història Natural & i\Biotaxa; Parc de l'Hort de Feliu-Alginet PO Box 8460 46018 València Spain
- Department of Parasitología; Facultad de Farmacia; University de València; Burjassot València Spain
| | - María J. Madeira
- Department of Zoology and Animal Cell Biology; Faculty of Pharmacy; University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU); Paseo de la Universidad 7 01006 Vitoria-Gasteiz Alava Spain
- Biodiversity Research Group CIEA Lucio Lascaray; Avda. Miguel de Unamuno 3 01006 Vitoria-Gasteiz Alava Spain
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Kautt AF, Machado-Schiaffino G, Meyer A. Multispecies Outcomes of Sympatric Speciation after Admixture with the Source Population in Two Radiations of Nicaraguan Crater Lake Cichlids. PLoS Genet 2016; 12:e1006157. [PMID: 27362536 PMCID: PMC4928843 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1006157] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2015] [Accepted: 06/09/2016] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The formation of species in the absence of geographic barriers (i.e. sympatric speciation) remains one of the most controversial topics in evolutionary biology. While theoretical models have shown that this most extreme case of primary divergence-with-gene-flow is possible, only a handful of accepted empirical examples exist. And even for the most convincing examples uncertainties remain; complex histories of isolation and secondary contact can make species falsely appear to have originated by sympatric speciation. This alternative scenario is notoriously difficult to rule out. Midas cichlids inhabiting small and remote crater lakes in Nicaragua are traditionally considered to be one of the best examples of sympatric speciation and lend themselves to test the different evolutionary scenarios that could lead to apparent sympatric speciation since the system is relatively small and the source populations known. Here we reconstruct the evolutionary history of two small-scale radiations of Midas cichlids inhabiting crater lakes Apoyo and Xiloá through a comprehensive genomic data set. We find no signs of differential admixture of any of the sympatric species in the respective radiations. Together with coalescent simulations of different demographic models our results support a scenario of speciation that was initiated in sympatry and does not result from secondary contact of already partly diverged populations. Furthermore, several species seem to have diverged simultaneously, making Midas cichlids an empirical example of multispecies outcomes of sympatric speciation. Importantly, however, the demographic models strongly support an admixture event from the source population into both crater lakes shortly before the onset of the radiations within the lakes. This opens the possibility that the formation of reproductive barriers involved in sympatric speciation was facilitated by genetic variants that evolved in a period of isolation between the initial founding population and the secondary migrants that came from the same source population. Thus, the exact mechanisms by which these species arose might be different from what had been thought before.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas F. Kautt
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
| | | | - Axel Meyer
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
- * E-mail:
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Mohammadi S, Afonso S, Adibi MA, Melo-Ferreira J, Campos R. A new and highly divergent mitochondrial lineage in the Small Five-toed Jerboa, Allactaga elater, from Iran (Mammalia: Rodentia). ZOOLOGY IN THE MIDDLE EAST 2016. [DOI: 10.1080/09397140.2016.1202925] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Saeed Mohammadi
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Zabol, Zabol, Iran
| | - Sandra Afonso
- CIBIO/InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal
| | | | - José Melo-Ferreira
- CIBIO/InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Rita Campos
- CIBIO/InBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal
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Rocha S, Perera A, Silva A, Posada D, Harris DJ. Evolutionary history ofTrachylepisskinks in the Seychelles islands: introgressive hybridization, morphological evolution and geographic structure. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2016. [DOI: 10.1111/bij.12803] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Sara Rocha
- CIBIO; Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos; Campus Agrário de Vairão; Rua Padre Armando Quintas; 4485-661 Vairão Portugal
- Departamento de Bioquímica; Genética e Inmunología; Facultad de Biología; Universidad de Vigo; Vigo 36310 Spain
| | - Anna Perera
- CIBIO; Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos; Campus Agrário de Vairão; Rua Padre Armando Quintas; 4485-661 Vairão Portugal
| | - Andreia Silva
- CIBIO; Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos; Campus Agrário de Vairão; Rua Padre Armando Quintas; 4485-661 Vairão Portugal
- Departamento de Biologia; Faculdade de Ciências; Rua do Campo Alegre FC4; 4169-007 Porto Portugal
| | - David Posada
- Departamento de Bioquímica; Genética e Inmunología; Facultad de Biología; Universidad de Vigo; Vigo 36310 Spain
| | - D. James Harris
- CIBIO; Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos; Campus Agrário de Vairão; Rua Padre Armando Quintas; 4485-661 Vairão Portugal
- Departamento de Biologia; Faculdade de Ciências; Rua do Campo Alegre FC4; 4169-007 Porto Portugal
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Rosenzweig BK, Pease JB, Besansky NJ, Hahn MW. Powerful methods for detecting introgressed regions from population genomic data. Mol Ecol 2016; 25:2387-97. [PMID: 26945783 DOI: 10.1111/mec.13610] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2015] [Accepted: 02/22/2016] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Understanding the types and functions of genes that are able to cross species boundaries-and those that are not-is an important step in understanding the forces maintaining species as largely independent lineages across the remainder of the genome. With large next-generation sequencing data sets we are now able to ask whether introgression has occurred across the genome, and multiple methods have been proposed to detect the signature of such events. Here, we introduce a new summary statistic that can be used to test for introgression, RNDmin , that makes use of the minimum pairwise sequence distance between two population samples relative to divergence to an outgroup. We find that our method offers a modest increase in power over other, related tests, but that all such tests have high power to detect introgressed loci when migration is recent and strong. RNDmin is robust to variation in the mutation rate, and remains reliable even when estimates of the divergence time between sister species are inaccurate. We apply RNDmin to population genomic data from the African mosquitoes Anopheles quadriannulatus and A. arabiensis, identifying three novel candidate regions for introgression. Interestingly, one of the introgressed loci is on the X chromosome, but outside of an inversion separating these two species. Our results suggest that significant, but rare, sharing of alleles is occurring between species that diverged more than 1 million years ago, and that application of these methods to additional systems are likely to reveal similar results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin K Rosenzweig
- School of Informatics and Computing, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA
| | - James B Pease
- School of Informatics and Computing, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA.,Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Nora J Besansky
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, 46556, USA.,Eck Institute for Global Health, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, 46556, USA
| | - Matthew W Hahn
- School of Informatics and Computing, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA.,Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA
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Fontanesi L, Di Palma F, Flicek P, Smith AT, Thulin CG, Alves PC. LaGomiCs-Lagomorph Genomics Consortium: An International Collaborative Effort for Sequencing the Genomes of an Entire Mammalian Order. J Hered 2016; 107:295-308. [PMID: 26921276 DOI: 10.1093/jhered/esw010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2015] [Accepted: 02/02/2016] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The order Lagomorpha comprises about 90 living species, divided in 2 families: the pikas (Family Ochotonidae), and the rabbits, hares, and jackrabbits (Family Leporidae). Lagomorphs are important economically and scientifically as major human food resources, valued game species, pests of agricultural significance, model laboratory animals, and key elements in food webs. A quarter of the lagomorph species are listed as threatened. They are native to all continents except Antarctica, and occur up to 5000 m above sea level, from the equator to the Arctic, spanning a wide range of environmental conditions. The order has notable taxonomic problems presenting significant difficulties for defining a species due to broad phenotypic variation, overlap of morphological characteristics, and relatively recent speciation events. At present, only the genomes of 2 species, the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and American pika (Ochotona princeps) have been sequenced and assembled. Starting from a paucity of genome information, the main scientific aim of the Lagomorph Genomics Consortium (LaGomiCs), born from a cooperative initiative of the European COST Action "A Collaborative European Network on Rabbit Genome Biology-RGB-Net" and the World Lagomorph Society (WLS), is to provide an international framework for the sequencing of the genome of all extant and selected extinct lagomorphs. Sequencing the genomes of an entire order will provide a large amount of information to address biological problems not only related to lagomorphs but also to all mammals. We present current and planned sequencing programs and outline the final objective of LaGomiCs possible through broad international collaboration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luca Fontanesi
- From the Division of Animal Sciences, Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy (Fontanesi); Vertebrate and Health Genomics, The Genome Analysis Centre (TGAC), Norwich, UK (Di Palma); Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA (Di Palma); European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK (Flicek); School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ (Smith); Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden (Thulin); CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Geneticos, Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrario de Vairao, Vairao, Portugal (Alves); and Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal (Alves).
| | - Federica Di Palma
- From the Division of Animal Sciences, Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy (Fontanesi); Vertebrate and Health Genomics, The Genome Analysis Centre (TGAC), Norwich, UK (Di Palma); Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA (Di Palma); European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK (Flicek); School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ (Smith); Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden (Thulin); CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Geneticos, Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrario de Vairao, Vairao, Portugal (Alves); and Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal (Alves)
| | - Paul Flicek
- From the Division of Animal Sciences, Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy (Fontanesi); Vertebrate and Health Genomics, The Genome Analysis Centre (TGAC), Norwich, UK (Di Palma); Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA (Di Palma); European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK (Flicek); School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ (Smith); Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden (Thulin); CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Geneticos, Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrario de Vairao, Vairao, Portugal (Alves); and Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal (Alves)
| | - Andrew T Smith
- From the Division of Animal Sciences, Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy (Fontanesi); Vertebrate and Health Genomics, The Genome Analysis Centre (TGAC), Norwich, UK (Di Palma); Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA (Di Palma); European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK (Flicek); School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ (Smith); Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden (Thulin); CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Geneticos, Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrario de Vairao, Vairao, Portugal (Alves); and Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal (Alves)
| | - Carl-Gustaf Thulin
- From the Division of Animal Sciences, Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy (Fontanesi); Vertebrate and Health Genomics, The Genome Analysis Centre (TGAC), Norwich, UK (Di Palma); Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA (Di Palma); European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK (Flicek); School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ (Smith); Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden (Thulin); CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Geneticos, Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrario de Vairao, Vairao, Portugal (Alves); and Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal (Alves)
| | - Paulo C Alves
- From the Division of Animal Sciences, Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy (Fontanesi); Vertebrate and Health Genomics, The Genome Analysis Centre (TGAC), Norwich, UK (Di Palma); Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA (Di Palma); European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK (Flicek); School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ (Smith); Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden (Thulin); CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Geneticos, Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrario de Vairao, Vairao, Portugal (Alves); and Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal (Alves).
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Jiménez RA, Ornelas JF. Historical and current introgression in a Mesoamerican hummingbird species complex: a biogeographic perspective. PeerJ 2016; 4:e1556. [PMID: 26788433 PMCID: PMC4715438 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.1556] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2015] [Accepted: 12/11/2015] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The influence of geologic and Pleistocene glacial cycles might result in morphological and genetic complex scenarios in the biota of the Mesoamerican region. We tested whether berylline, blue-tailed and steely-blue hummingbirds, Amazilia beryllina, Amazilia cyanura and Amazilia saucerottei, show evidence of historical or current introgression as their plumage colour variation might suggest. We also analysed the role of past and present climatic events in promoting genetic introgression and species diversification. We collected mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence data and microsatellite loci scores for populations throughout the range of the three Amazilia species, as well as morphological and ecological data. Haplotype network, Bayesian phylogenetic and divergence time inference, historical demography, palaeodistribution modelling, and niche divergence tests were used to reconstruct the evolutionary history of this Amazilia species complex. An isolation-with-migration coalescent model and Bayesian assignment analysis were assessed to determine historical introgression and current genetic admixture. mtDNA haplotypes were geographically unstructured, with haplotypes from disparate areas interdispersed on a shallow tree and an unresolved haplotype network. Assignment analysis of the nuclear genome (nuDNA) supported three genetic groups with signs of genetic admixture, corresponding to: (1) A. beryllina populations located west of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec; (2) A. cyanura populations between the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and the Nicaraguan Depression (Nuclear Central America); and (3) A. saucerottei populations southeast of the Nicaraguan Depression. Gene flow and divergence time estimates, and demographic and palaeodistribution patterns suggest an evolutionary history of introgression mediated by Quaternary climatic fluctuations. High levels of gene flow were indicated by mtDNA and asymmetrical isolation-with-migration, whereas the microsatellite analyses found evidence for three genetic clusters with distributions corresponding to isolation by the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and the Nicaraguan Depression and signs of admixture. Historical levels of migration between genetically distinct groups estimated using microsatellites were higher than contemporary levels of migration. These results support the scenario of secondary contact and range contact during the glacial periods of the Pleistocene and strongly imply that the high levels of structure currently observed are a consequence of the limited dispersal of these hummingbirds across the isthmus and depression barriers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosa Alicia Jiménez
- Departamento de Biología Evolutiva, Instituto de Ecología A.C. , Xalapa , Veracruz , Mexico
| | - Juan Francisco Ornelas
- Departamento de Biología Evolutiva, Instituto de Ecología A.C. , Xalapa , Veracruz , Mexico
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González E, Gállego M, Molina R, Abras A, Alcover MM, Ballart C, Fernández A, Jiménez M. Identification of blood meals in field captured sand flies by a PCR-RFLP approach based on cytochrome b gene. Acta Trop 2015; 152:96-102. [PMID: 26342793 DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2015.08.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2015] [Revised: 08/21/2015] [Accepted: 08/31/2015] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne disease transmitted by phlebotomine sand flies. Information about blood meal preferences in sand flies is essential to understand the epidemiology of the disease to adopt control measures. In previous studies, a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of 359bp fragment of the conserved gene cytochrome b (cyt b) and further sequencing were applied in the study of blood meal sources in sand flies collected in the area of a leishmaniasis outbreak in southwest Madrid, Spain, providing significant information about blood meal preferences in the focus. In this work, a PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) targeting a fragment of 359bp of vertebrate cyt b gene was developed. Restriction endonucleases HaeIII and HinfI generated specific patterns consistent with the blood meal sources found in sand flies. The protocol has been validated with twenty six engorged females collected in the field with CDC traps. Blood meals from nine vertebrates were identified based on PCR-cyt b and sequencing-human, dog, cat, horse, hare, rabbit, sheep, goat and chicken - and mixed blood meals (sheep/human; sheep/goat) - and successfully distinguished by PCR-RFLP. Therefore, this approach is an efficient and reliable alternative method to be applied in entomological surveys.
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Affiliation(s)
- Estela González
- Unidad de Entomología Médica, Servicio de Parasitología, Centro Nacional de Microbiología, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ctra. Majadahonda-Pozuelo s/n, 28220 Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain
| | - Montserrat Gállego
- Laboratori de Parasitologia, Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Spain; ISGlobal, Barcelona Ctr. Int. Health Res. (CRESIB), Hospital Clínic-Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Ricardo Molina
- Unidad de Entomología Médica, Servicio de Parasitología, Centro Nacional de Microbiología, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ctra. Majadahonda-Pozuelo s/n, 28220 Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain
| | - Alba Abras
- Laboratori de Parasitologia, Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Spain; ISGlobal, Barcelona Ctr. Int. Health Res. (CRESIB), Hospital Clínic-Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - M Magdalena Alcover
- Laboratori de Parasitologia, Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Spain; ISGlobal, Barcelona Ctr. Int. Health Res. (CRESIB), Hospital Clínic-Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Cristina Ballart
- Laboratori de Parasitologia, Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Spain; ISGlobal, Barcelona Ctr. Int. Health Res. (CRESIB), Hospital Clínic-Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Anna Fernández
- Laboratori de Parasitologia, Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Spain
| | - Maribel Jiménez
- Unidad de Entomología Médica, Servicio de Parasitología, Centro Nacional de Microbiología, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ctra. Majadahonda-Pozuelo s/n, 28220 Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain.
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Dupuis JR, Sperling FAH. Repeated Reticulate Evolution in North American Papilio machaon Group Swallowtail Butterflies. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0141882. [PMID: 26517268 PMCID: PMC4627828 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0141882] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2015] [Accepted: 10/14/2015] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Hybridization between distinct populations or species is increasingly recognized as an important process for generating biodiversity. However, the interaction between hybridization and speciation is complex, and the diverse evolutionary outcomes of hybridization are difficult to differentiate. Here we characterize potential hybridization in a species group of swallowtail butterflies using microsatellites, DNA sequences, and morphology, and assess whether adaptive introgression or homoploid hybrid speciation was the primary process leading to each putative hybrid lineage. Four geographically separated hybrid populations were identified in the Papilio machaon species group. One distinct mitochondrial DNA clade from P. machaon was fixed in three hybrid taxa (P. brevicauda, P. joanae, and P. m. kahli), while one hybrid swarm (P. zelicaon x machaon) exhibited this hybrid mtDNA clade as well as widespread parental mtDNA haplotypes from both parental species. Microsatellite markers and morphology showed variable admixture and intermediacy, ranging from signatures of prolonged differential introgression from the paternal species (P. polyxenes/P. zelicaon) to current gene flow with both parental species. Divergences of the hybrid lineages dated to early- to mid-Pleistocene, suggesting that repeated glaciations and subsequent range shifts of parental species, particularly P. machaon hudsonianus, facilitated initial hybridization. Although each lineage is distinct, P. joanae is the only taxon with sufficient evidence (ecological separation from parental species) to define it as a homoploid hybrid species. The repetition of hybridization in this group provides a valuable foundation for future research on hybridization, and these results emphasize the potential for hybridization to drive speciation in diverse ways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julian R. Dupuis
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Felix A. H. Sperling
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
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Pinheiro A, Neves F, Lemos de Matos A, Abrantes J, van der Loo W, Mage R, Esteves PJ. An overview of the lagomorph immune system and its genetic diversity. Immunogenetics 2015; 68:83-107. [PMID: 26399242 DOI: 10.1007/s00251-015-0868-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2015] [Accepted: 08/31/2015] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Our knowledge of the lagomorph immune system remains largely based upon studies of the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), a major model for studies of immunology. Two important and devastating viral diseases, rabbit hemorrhagic disease and myxomatosis, are affecting European rabbit populations. In this context, we discuss the genetic diversity of the European rabbit immune system and extend to available information about other lagomorphs. Regarding innate immunity, we review the most recent advances in identifying interleukins, chemokines and chemokine receptors, Toll-like receptors, antiviral proteins (RIG-I and Trim5), and the genes encoding fucosyltransferases that are utilized by rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus as a portal for invading host respiratory and gut epithelial cells. Evolutionary studies showed that several genes of innate immunity are evolving by strong natural selection. Studies of the leporid CCR5 gene revealed a very dramatic change unique in mammals at the second extracellular loop of CCR5 resulting from a gene conversion event with the paralogous CCR2. For the adaptive immune system, we review genetic diversity at the loci encoding antibody variable and constant regions, the major histocompatibility complex (RLA) and T cells. Studies of IGHV and IGKC genes expressed in leporids are two of the few examples of trans-species polymorphism observed outside of the major histocompatibility complex. In addition, we review some endogenous viruses of lagomorph genomes, the importance of the European rabbit as a model for human disease studies, and the anticipated role of next-generation sequencing in extending knowledge of lagomorph immune systems and their evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Pinheiro
- InBIO-Research Network in Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, CIBIO, Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, Rua Padre Armando Quintas, nr. 7, 4485-661, Vairão, Portugal
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, 4169-007, Porto, Portugal
- SaBio-IREC (CSIC-UCLM-JCCM), Ronda de Toledo s/n, 13071, Ciudad Real, Spain
| | - Fabiana Neves
- InBIO-Research Network in Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, CIBIO, Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, Rua Padre Armando Quintas, nr. 7, 4485-661, Vairão, Portugal
- UMIB/UP-Unidade Multidisciplinar de Investigação Biomédica, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Ana Lemos de Matos
- Department of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32610, USA
| | - Joana Abrantes
- InBIO-Research Network in Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, CIBIO, Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, Rua Padre Armando Quintas, nr. 7, 4485-661, Vairão, Portugal
| | - Wessel van der Loo
- InBIO-Research Network in Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, CIBIO, Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, Rua Padre Armando Quintas, nr. 7, 4485-661, Vairão, Portugal
| | - Rose Mage
- NIAID, NIH, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Pedro José Esteves
- InBIO-Research Network in Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, CIBIO, Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, Rua Padre Armando Quintas, nr. 7, 4485-661, Vairão, Portugal.
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, 4169-007, Porto, Portugal.
- CITS-Centro de Investigação em Tecnologias de Saúde, CESPU, Gandra, Portugal.
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