The Distribution of Genetic Diversity Within and Among Populations of the Rocky Mountain Columbine: The Impact of Gene Flow, Pollinators, and Mating System

2012 ◽  
Vol 173 (5) ◽  
pp. 484-494 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanne Brunet ◽  
Zachary Larson-Rabin ◽  
Christy M. Stewart
2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Laenen ◽  
Andrew Tedder ◽  
Michael D. Nowak ◽  
Per Toräng ◽  
Jörg Wunder ◽  
...  

Plant mating systems have profound effects on levels and structuring of genetic variation, and can affect the impact of natural selection. While theory predicts that intermediate outcrossing rates may allow plants to prevent accumulation of deleterious alleles, few studies have empirically tested this prediction using genomic data. Here, we study the effect of mating system on purifying selection by conducting population genomic analyses on whole-genome resequencing data from 38 European individuals of the arctic-alpine crucifer Arabis alpina. We find that outcrossing and mixed-mating populations maintain genetic diversity at similar levels, whereas highly self-fertilizing Scandinavian A. alpina show a strong reduction in genetic diversity, most likely as a result of a postglacial colonization bottleneck. We further find evidence for accumulation of genetic load in highly self-fertilizing populations, whereas the genome-wide impact of purifying selection does not differ greatly between mixed-mating and outcrossing populations. Our results demonstrate that intermediate levels of outcrossing may allow efficient selection against harmful alleles whereas demographic effects can be important for relaxed purifying selection in highly selfing populations. Thus, both mating system and demography shape the impact of purifying selection on genomic variation in A. alpina. These results are important for an improved understanding of the evolutionary consequences of mating system variation and the maintenance of mixed-mating strategies.SignificanceIntermediate outcrossing rates are theoretically predicted to maintain effective selection against harmful alleles, but few studies have empirically tested this prediction using genomic data. We used whole-genome resequencing data from alpine rock-cress to study how genetic variation and purifying selection vary with mating system. We find that populations with intermediate outcrossing rates have similar levels of genetic diversity as outcrossing populations, and that purifying selection against harmful alleles is efficient in mixed-mating populations. In contrast, self-fertilizing populations from Scandinavia have strongly reduced genetic diversity, and accumulate harmful mutations, likely as a result of demographic effects of postglacial colonization. Our results suggest that mixed-mating populations can avoid the negative evolutionary consequences of high self-fertilization rates.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Brante ◽  
Garen Guzmán-Rendón ◽  
Erwin M. Barría ◽  
Marie-Laure Guillemin ◽  
Iván Vera-Escalona ◽  
...  

Abstract Earthquake/tsunamis can have profound impacts on species and their genetic patterns. It is expected that the magnitude of this impact might depend on the species and the time since the disturbance occurs, nevertheless these assumptions remain mostly unexplored. Here we studied the genetic responses of the crustacean species Emerita analoga, Excirolana hirsuticauda, and Orchestoidea tuberculata to the 27F mega-earthquake/tsunami that occurred in Chile in February 2010. mtDNA sequence analyses revealed a lower haplotype diversity for E. analoga and E. hirsuticauda in impacted areas one month after the 27F, and the opposite for O. tuberculata. Three years after the 27F we observed a recovery in the genetic diversity of E. analoga and E. hirsuticauda and decrease in the genetic diversity in O. tuberculata in 2/3 of sampled areas. Emerita analoga displayed decrease of genetic differentiation and increase in gene flow explained by long-range population expansion. The other two species revealed slight increase in the number of genetic groups, little change in gene flow and no signal of population expansion associated to adult survival, rapid colonization, and capacity to burrow in the sand. Our results reveal that species response to a same disturbance event could be extremely diverse and depending on life-history traits and the magnitude of the effect.


2014 ◽  
Vol 92 (4) ◽  
pp. 285-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.F. Speller ◽  
B. Kooyman ◽  
A.T. Rodrigues ◽  
E.G. Langemann ◽  
R.M. Jobin ◽  
...  

North American elk (Cervus elaphus L., 1758) are an important component of Canada’s natural ecosystems. Overhunting and habitat decline in the 19th century led to the near eradication of Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni Bailey, 1935) and Manitoban elk (Cervus elaphus manitobensis Millais, 1915) within Alberta. Though elk populations have been restored within provincial and national parks, it is unknown to what degree historic population declines affected overall genetic diversity and population structuring of the two subspecies. This study targeted 551 bp of mitochondrial D-loop DNA from 50 elk remains recovered from 16 archaeological sites (2260 BCE (before common era) to 1920 CE (common era)) to examine the former genetic diversity and population structure of Alberta’s historic elk populations. Comparisons of ancient and modern haplotype and nucleotide diversity suggest that historic population declines reduced the mitochondrial diversity of Manitoban elk, while translocation of animals from Yellowstone National Park in the early 20th century served to maintain the diversity of Rocky Mountain populations. Gene flow between the two subspecies was significantly higher in the past than today, suggesting that the two subspecies previously formed a continuous population. These data on precontact genetic diversity and gene flow in Alberta elk provide essential baseline data integral for elk management and conservation in the province.


Oryx ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Krystal A. Tolley ◽  
Colin R. Tilbury ◽  
Jessica M. da Silva ◽  
Gary Brown ◽  
Yankho Chapeta ◽  
...  

Abstract The Critically Endangered Chapman's pygmy chameleon Rhampholeon chapmanorum is endemic to the low elevation rainforest of the Malawi Hills in southern Malawi. Much of this forest has been converted to agriculture and it was uncertain whether chameleon populations have persisted. We used current and historical satellite imagery to identify remaining forest patches and assess deforestation. We then surveyed forest patches for the presence of this chameleon, and assessed its genetic diversity and structure. We estimated that 80% of the forest has been destroyed since 1984, although we found extant populations of the chameleon in each of the patches surveyed. Differentiation of genetic structure was strong between populations, suggesting that gene flow has been impaired. Genetic diversity was not low, but this could be the result of a temporal lag as well as lack of sensitivity in the mitochondrial marker used. Overall, the impact of forest loss is assumed to have led to a large demographic decline, with forest fragmentation preventing gene flow.


Genetics ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 154 (3) ◽  
pp. 1309-1321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frédéric Austerlitz ◽  
Stéphanie Mariette ◽  
Nathalie Machon ◽  
Pierre-Henri Gouyon ◽  
Bernard Godelle

Abstract Tree species are striking for their high within-population diversity and low among-population differentiation for nuclear genes. In contrast, annual plants show much more differentiation for nuclear genes but much less diversity than trees. The usual explanation for this difference is that pollen flow, and therefore gene flow, is much higher for trees. This explanation is problematic because it relies on equilibrium hypotheses. Because trees have very recently recolonized temperate areas, they have experienced many foundation events, which usually reduce within-population diversity and increase differentiation. Only extremely high levels of gene flow could counterbalance these successive founder effects. We develop a model to study the impact of life cycle of forest trees, in particular of the length of their juvenile phase, on genetic diversity and differentiation during the glacial period and the following colonization period. We show that both a reasonably high level of pollen flow and the life-cycle characteristics of trees are needed to explain the observed structure of genetic diversity. We also show that gene flow and life cycle both have an impact on maternally inherited cytoplasmic genes, which are characterized both in trees and annual species by much less diversity and much more differentiation than nuclear genes.


2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (4) ◽  
pp. 816-821 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Laenen ◽  
Andrew Tedder ◽  
Michael D. Nowak ◽  
Per Toräng ◽  
Jörg Wunder ◽  
...  

Plant mating systems have profound effects on levels and structuring of genetic variation and can affect the impact of natural selection. Although theory predicts that intermediate outcrossing rates may allow plants to prevent accumulation of deleterious alleles, few studies have empirically tested this prediction using genomic data. Here, we study the effect of mating system on purifying selection by conducting population-genomic analyses on whole-genome resequencing data from 38 European individuals of the arctic-alpine crucifer Arabis alpina. We find that outcrossing and mixed-mating populations maintain genetic diversity at similar levels, whereas highly self-fertilizing Scandinavian A. alpina show a strong reduction in genetic diversity, most likely as a result of a postglacial colonization bottleneck. We further find evidence for accumulation of genetic load in highly self-fertilizing populations, whereas the genome-wide impact of purifying selection does not differ greatly between mixed-mating and outcrossing populations. Our results demonstrate that intermediate levels of outcrossing may allow efficient selection against harmful alleles, whereas demographic effects can be important for relaxed purifying selection in highly selfing populations. Thus, mating system and demography shape the impact of purifying selection on genomic variation in A. alpina. These results are important for an improved understanding of the evolutionary consequences of mating system variation and the maintenance of mixed-mating strategies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 98 (5) ◽  
pp. 317-330
Author(s):  
Samuel Deakin ◽  
Jamieson C. Gorrell ◽  
Jeffery Kneteman ◽  
David S. Hik ◽  
Richard M. Jobin ◽  
...  

The Canadian Rocky Mountains are one of the few places on Earth where the spatial genetic structure of wide-ranging species has been relatively unaffected by anthropogenic disturbance. We characterized the spatial genetic structure of Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis canadensis Shaw, 1804) in the northern portion of their range. Using microsatellites from 1495 individuals and mitochondrial DNA sequences from 188 individuals, we examined both broad- and fine-scale spatial genetic structure, assessed sex-biased gene flow within the northern portion of the species range, and identified geographic patterns of genetic diversity. We found that broad-scale spatial genetic structure was consistent with barriers to movement created by major river valleys. The fine-scale spatial genetic structure was characterized by a strong isolation-by-distance pattern, and analysis of neighborhood size using spatial autocorrelation indicated gene flow frequently occurred over distances of up to 100 km. However, analysis of sex-specific spatial autocorrelation and analysis of mitochondrial haplotype distributions failed to detect any evidence of sex-biased gene flow. Finally, our analyses reveal decreasing genetic diversity with increasing latitude, consistent with patterns of post-glacial recolonization of the Rocky Mountains.


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