scholarly journals Low genomic divergence and high gene flow between locally adapted populations of the swamp sparrow

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Deane-Coe ◽  
R. Greenberg ◽  
I. J. Lovette ◽  
R. G. Harrison

AbstractPopulations that have recently diverged across sharp environmental gradients provide an opportunity to study the mechanisms by which natural selection drives adaptive divergence. Inland and coastal populations of the North American swamp sparrow have become an emerging model system for studies of natural selection because they are morphologically and behaviourally distinct despite a very recent divergence time (<15,000 years), yet common garden experiments have demonstrated a genetic basis for their phenotypic differences. We characterized genomic patterns of variation within and between inland and coastal swamp sparrows via reduced representation sequencing in order to reconstruct the contributions of demography, gene flow and selection to this case of recent adaptive divergence. Compared to inland swamp sparrows, coastal swamp sparrows exhibited fewer polymorphic sites and reduced nucleotide diversity at those sites, indicating that a bottleneck and/or recent selective sweeps occurred in that population during coastal colonization and local adaptation. Estimates of genome-wide differentiation (FST=0.02) and sequence divergence (ΦST=0.05) between inland and coastal populations were very low, consistent with postglacial divergence. A small number of SNPs were strongly differentiated (max FST=0.8) suggesting selection at linked sites. Swamp sparrows sampled from breeding sites at the habitat transition between freshwater and brackish marshes exhibited high levels of genetic admixture. Such evidence of active contemporary gene flow makes the evolution and maintenance of local adaptation in these two populations even more notable. We summarize several features of the swamp sparrow system that may facilitate the maintenance of adaptive diversity despite gene flow, including the presence of a magic trait.

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (26) ◽  
pp. 12933-12941 ◽  
Author(s):  
David B. Lowry ◽  
John T. Lovell ◽  
Li Zhang ◽  
Jason Bonnette ◽  
Philip A. Fay ◽  
...  

Local adaptation is the process by which natural selection drives adaptive phenotypic divergence across environmental gradients. Theory suggests that local adaptation results from genetic trade-offs at individual genetic loci, where adaptation to one set of environmental conditions results in a cost to fitness in alternative environments. However, the degree to which there are costs associated with local adaptation is poorly understood because most of these experiments rely on two-site reciprocal transplant experiments. Here, we quantify the benefits and costs of locally adaptive loci across 17° of latitude in a four-grandparent outbred mapping population in outcrossing switchgrass (Panicum virgatumL.), an emerging biofuel crop and dominant tallgrass species. We conducted quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping across 10 sites, ranging from Texas to South Dakota. This analysis revealed that beneficial biomass (fitness) QTL generally incur minimal costs when transplanted to other field sites distributed over a large climatic gradient over the 2 y of our study. Therefore, locally advantageous alleles could potentially be combined across multiple loci through breeding to create high-yielding regionally adapted cultivars.


2014 ◽  
Vol 369 (1648) ◽  
pp. 20130342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander S. T. Papadopulos ◽  
Maria Kaye ◽  
Céline Devaux ◽  
Helen Hipperson ◽  
Jackie Lighten ◽  
...  

It is now recognized that speciation can proceed even when divergent natural selection is opposed by gene flow. Understanding the extent to which environmental gradients and geographical distance can limit gene flow within species can shed light on the relative roles of selection and dispersal limitation during the early stages of population divergence and speciation. On the remote Lord Howe Island (Australia), ecological speciation with gene flow is thought to have taken place in several plant genera. The aim of this study was to establish the contributions of isolation by environment (IBE) and isolation by community (IBC) to the genetic structure of 19 plant species, from a number of distantly related families, which have been subjected to similar environmental pressures over comparable time scales. We applied an individual-based, multivariate, model averaging approach to quantify IBE and IBC, while controlling for isolation by distance (IBD). Our analyses demonstrated that all species experienced some degree of ecologically driven isolation, whereas only 12 of 19 species were subjected to IBD. The prevalence of IBE within these plant species indicates that divergent selection in plants frequently produces local adaptation and supports hypotheses that ecological divergence can drive speciation in sympatry.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yue Shi ◽  
Kristen L Bouska ◽  
Garrett J McKinney ◽  
William Dokai ◽  
Andrew Bartels ◽  
...  

Understanding how gene flow influences adaptive divergence is important for predicting adaptive responses. Theoretical studies suggest that when gene flow is high, clustering of adaptive genes in fewer genomic regions would protect adaptive alleles from among-population recombination and thus be selected for, but few studies have tested this hypothesis with empirical data. Here, we used RADseq to generate genomic data for six fish species with contrasting life histories from six reaches of the Upper Mississippi River System, USA. We then conducted genome scans for genomic islands of divergence to examine the distribution of adaptive loci and investigated whether these loci were found in inversions. We found that gene flow varied among species, and adaptive loci were clustered more tightly in species with higher gene flow. For example, the two species with the highest overall FST (0.03 - 0.07) and therefore lowest gene flow showed little evidence of clusters of adaptive loci, with adaptive loci spread uniformly across the genome. In contrast, nearly all adaptive loci in the species with the lowest FST (0.0004) were found in a single large putative inversion. Two other species with intermediate gene flow (FST ~ 0.004) also showed clustered genomic architectures, with most islands of divergence clustered on a few chromosomes. These results provide important empirical evidence to support the hypothesis that increasingly clustered architectures of local adaptation are associated with high gene flow. Our study utilized a unique system with species spanning a large gradient of life histories to highlight the importance of gene flow in shaping adaptive divergence.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marisa C W Lim ◽  
Ke Bi ◽  
Christopher C Witt ◽  
Catherine H Graham ◽  
Liliana M Dávalos

Abstract Populations along steep environmental gradients are subject to differentiating selection that can result in local adaptation, despite countervailing gene flow, and genetic drift. In montane systems, where species are often restricted to narrow ranges of elevation, it is unclear whether the selection is strong enough to influence functional differentiation of subpopulations differing by a few hundred meters in elevation. We used targeted capture of 12 501 exons from across the genome, including 271 genes previously implicated in altitude adaptation, to test for adaptation to local elevations for 2 highland hummingbird species, Coeligena violifer (n = 62) and Colibri coruscans (n = 101). For each species, we described population genetic structure across the complex geography of the Peruvian Andes and, while accounting for this structure, we tested whether elevational allele frequency clines in single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) showed evidence for local adaptation to elevation. Although the 2 species exhibited contrasting population genetic structures, we found signatures of clinal genetic variation with shifts in elevation in both. The genes with SNP-elevation associations included candidate genes previously discovered for high-elevation adaptation as well as others not previously identified, with cellular functions related to hypoxia response, energy metabolism, and immune function, among others. Despite the homogenizing effects of gene flow and genetic drift, natural selection on parts of the genome evidently optimizes elevation-specific cellular function even within elevation range-restricted montane populations. Consequently, our results suggest local adaptation occurring in narrow elevation bands in tropical mountains, such as the Andes, may effectively make them “taller” biogeographic barriers.


PeerJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. e7242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bai-Dong Zhang ◽  
Dong-Xiu Xue ◽  
Yu-Long Li ◽  
Jin-Xian Liu

Exploring factors shaping genetic structure of marine fish is challenging due to fewer barriers to gene flow in the ocean. However, genome-wide sequence data can greatly enhance our ability to delineate previously unidentified population structure as well as potential adaptive divergence. The small yellow croaker (Larimichthys polyactis) is a commercially important fish species with high gene flow and its overwintering populations experience heterogeneous environment, suggesting possible population differentiation and adaptive divergence. To delineate patterns of population structure as well as test for signatures of local adaptation, a total of 68,666 quality filtered SNP markers were identified for 80 individuals from four overwintering populations by using restriction site-associated DNA sequencing (RAD-seq). Significant genetic differentiation among overwintering populations from the Central Yellow Sea, the South Yellow Sea and the North East China Sea were detected (Pair-wise FST: 0.00036–0.00390), which were consistent with population division of overwintering groups inferred from traditional ecological approaches. In addition, a total of 126 unique SNPs were detected to be significantly associated with environmental parameters (temperature, salinity and turbidity). These candidate SNPs were involved in multiple pathways such as energy metabolism and phagocytosis, suggesting they may play key roles in growth and innate immunity. Our results suggested the existence of hitherto unrecognized cryptic population structure and local adaptation in this high gene flow marine fish and thus gain new insights into the design of management strategies.


PeerJ ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e1556 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosa Alicia Jiménez ◽  
Juan Francisco Ornelas

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 cyanuraandAmazilia 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 threeAmaziliaspecies, 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 thisAmaziliaspecies 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. beryllinapopulations located west of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec; (2)A. cyanurapopulations between the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and the Nicaraguan Depression (Nuclear Central America); and (3)A. saucerotteipopulations 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.


Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 455
Author(s):  
Na Ra Jeong ◽  
Min Jee Kim ◽  
Sung-Soo Kim ◽  
Sei-Woong Choi ◽  
Iksoo Kim

Conogethes pinicolalis has long been considered as a Pinaceae-feeding type of the yellow peach moth, C. punctiferalis, in Korea. In this study, the divergence of C. pinicolalis from the fruit-feeding moth C. punctiferalis was analyzed in terms of morphology, ecology, and genetics. C. pinicolalis differs from C. punctiferalis in several morphological features. Through field observation, we confirmed that pine trees are the host plants for the first generation of C. pinicolalis larvae, in contrast to fruit-feeding C. punctiferalis larvae. We successfully reared C. pinicolalis larvae to adults by providing them pine needles as a diet. From a genetic perspective, the sequences of mitochondrial COI of these two species substantially diverged by an average of 5.46%; moreover, phylogenetic analysis clearly assigned each species to an independent clade. On the other hand, nuclear EF1α showed a lower sequence divergence (2.10%) than COI. Overall, EF1α-based phylogenetic analysis confirmed each species as an independent clade, but a few haplotypes of EF1α indicated incomplete lineage sorting between these two species. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that C. pinicolalis is an independent species according to general taxonomic criteria; however, analysis of the EF1α sequence revealed a short divergence time.


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