scholarly journals Evolutionary history of a relict conifer, Pseudotaxus chienii (Taxaceae), in south-east China during the late Neogene: old lineage, young populations

2019 ◽  
Vol 125 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yixuan Kou ◽  
Li Zhang ◽  
Dengmei Fan ◽  
Shanmei Cheng ◽  
Dezhu Li ◽  
...  

Abstract Background and Aims Many monotypic gymnosperm lineages in south-east China paradoxically remain in relict status despite long evolutionary histories and ample opportunities for allopatric speciation, but this paradox has received little attention and has yet to be resolved. Here, we address this issue by investigating the evolutionary history of a relict conifer, Pseudotaxus chienii (Taxaceae). Methods DNA sequences from two chloroplast regions and 14 nuclear loci were obtained for 134 samples. The demographic history was inferred and the contribution of isolation by environment (IBE) in patterning genetic divergence was compared with that of isolation by distance (IBD). Key Results Three genetic clusters were identified. Approximate Bayesian computation analyses showed that the three clusters diverged in the late Pliocene (~3.68 Ma) and two admixture events were detected. Asymmetric gene flow and similar population divergence times (~ 3.74 Ma) were characterized using the isolation with migration model. Neither IBD nor IBE contributed significantly to genetic divergence, and the contribution of IBE was much smaller than that of IBD. Conclusions These results suggest that several monotypic relict gymnosperm lineages like P. chienii in south-east China did not remain in situ and undiversified for millions of years. On the contrary, they have been evolving and the extant populations have become established more recently, having insufficient time to speciate. Our findings provide a new perspective for understanding the formation and evolution of the relict gymnosperm flora of China as well as of the Sino-Japanese Flora.

2005 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 291-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer A Leonard ◽  
Nadin Rohland ◽  
Scott Glaberman ◽  
Robert C Fleischer ◽  
Adalgisa Caccone ◽  
...  

Twenty years ago, the field of ancient DNA was launched with the publication of two short mitochondrial (mt) DNA sequences from a single quagga ( Equus quagga ) museum skin, an extinct South African equid ( Higuchi et al . 1984 Nature 312 , 282–284). This was the first extinct species from which genetic information was retrieved. The DNA sequences of the quagga showed that it was more closely related to zebras than to horses. However, quagga evolutionary history is far from clear. We have isolated DNA from eight quaggas and a plains zebra (subspecies or phenotype Equus burchelli burchelli ). We show that the quagga displayed little genetic diversity and very recently diverged from the plains zebra, probably during the penultimate glacial maximum. This emphasizes the importance of Pleistocene climate changes for phylogeographic patterns in African as well as Holarctic fauna.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masahiko Muraji ◽  
Norio Arakaki ◽  
Shigeo Tanizaki

The phylogenetic relationship, biogeography, and evolutionary history of closely related two firefly species,Curtos costipennisandC. okinawanus, distributed in the Ryukyu Islands of Japan were examined based on nucleotide sequences of mitochondrial (2.2 kb long) and nuclear (1.1-1.2 kb long) DNAs. In these analyses, individuals were divided among three genetically distinct local groups,C. costipennisin the Amami region,C. okinawanusin the Okinawa region, andC. costipennisin the Sakishima region. Their mtDNA sequences suggested that ancestralC. costipennispopulation was first separated between the Central and Southern Ryukyu areas, and the northern half was then subdivided betweenC. costipennisin the Amami andC. okinawanusin the Okinawa. The application of the molecular evolutionary clocks of coleopteran insects indicated that their vicariance occurred 1.0–1.4 million years ago, suggesting the influence of submergence and subdivision of a paleopeninsula extending between the Ryukyu Islands and continental China through Taiwan in the early Pleistocene.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu-Juan Zhao ◽  
Gen-Shen Yin ◽  
Yue-Zhi Pan ◽  
Bo Tian ◽  
Xun Gong

Himalaya and Hengduan Mountains (HHM) is a biodiversity hotspot, and very rich in endemic species. Previous phylogeographical studies proposed different hypotheses (vicariance and climate-driven speciation) in explaining diversification and the observed pattern of extant biodiversity, but it is likely that taxa are forming in this area in species-specific ways. Here, we reexplored the phylogenetic relationship and tested the corresponding hypotheses within Paeonia subsect. Delavayanae composed of one widespread species (Paeonia delavayi) and the other geographically confined species (Paeonia ludlowii). We gathered genetic variation data at three chloroplast DNA fragments and one nuclear gene from 335 individuals of 34 populations sampled from HHM. We performed a combination of population genetic summary statistics, isolation-with-migration divergence models, isolation by environment, and demographic history analyses. We found evidence for the current taxonomic treatment that P. ludlowii and P. delavayi are two different species with significant genetic differentiation. The significant isolation by environment was revealed within all sampled populations but genetic distances only explained by geographical distances within P. delavayi populations. The results of population divergence models and demographic history analyses indicated a progenitor–derivative relationship and the Late Quaternary divergence without gene flow between them. The coalescence of all sampled cpDNA haplotypes could date to the Late Miocene, and P. delavayi populations probably underwent a severe bottleneck in population size during the last glacial period. Genetic variation in Paeonia subsect. Delavayanae is associated with geographical and environmental distances. These findings point to the importance of geological and climatic changes as causes of the speciation event and lineage diversification within Paeonia subsect. Delavayanae.


Author(s):  
Andrew L Hipp

When we look at an oak, we see one organism, despite the fact that each of the estimated 25,808 genes in the oak genome has a unique history. Here I review why the evolutionary history of oaks comprises a variety of phylogenetic histories that trace disparate histories of introgression, stochastic allele extinction, and population divergence. I describe recent phylogenomic work that dissects the multiple phylogenetic histories constituting the history of white oak movements between the Americas and Eurasia. Finally, I argue that the patterns and causes of genomic mosaicism should be a central focus of inquiry for oak phylogenetic work in the coming decade.


2018 ◽  
Vol 96 (11) ◽  
pp. 1244-1254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter H. Smith ◽  
Jessica A. Wooten ◽  
Carlos D. Camp ◽  
Dirk J. Stevenson ◽  
John B. Jensen ◽  
...  

A primary goal of landscape genetics is to elucidate factors associated with genetic structure among populations. Among the important patterns identified have been isolation by distance (IBD), isolation by barrier (IBB), and isolation by environment (IBE). We tested hypotheses relating each of these possible patterns to genetic divergence in the Slimy Salamander (Plethodon glutinosus (Green, 1818)) species complex across the lower Piedmont and Coastal Plain of Georgia, USA, and adjacent areas of South Carolina, USA. We sequenced 2148 total bp, including three regions of the mitochondrial genome and a nuclear intron, and related genetic distance to GIS-derived surrogate variables representing possible IBD (geographic distance), IBE (principal components of 19 climate variables, watershed, and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)), and IBB (streams of fourth order and higher). Multiple matrix regression with randomization analysis indicated significant relationships between genetic distance and two principal components of climate, as well as NDVI. These results support roles for environment (IBE) in helping to drive genetic divergence in this group of salamanders. The absence of a significant influence of IBD and IBB was surprising. It is possible that the signal effects of geographic distance and barriers on genetic divergence may have been erased by more recent responses to the environment.


The Auk ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 120 (2) ◽  
pp. 346-361
Author(s):  
Erik A. Sgariglia ◽  
Kevin J. Burns

Abstract Distribution of genealogical lineages within a species is likely the result of a complicated series of ecological and historical events. Nested-clade analysis is specifically designed as an objective phylogeographic approach for inferring evolutionary processes on a spatial and temporal scale for small subclades within a larger set of intraspecific relationships. Here, we use nested-clade analysis as well as other phylogeographic methods to investigate the evolutionary history of California Thrasher (Toxostoma redivivum) populations. Inferences resulting from nested clade analysis suggest a history that includes past fragmentation, range expansion, and isolation-by-distance. Along with root information, those inferences enable the construction of a biogeographic scenario for this species involving general southern ancestry, an early north–south division, northward range expansion, and a southward back-expansion into an already populated southern region. Isolation-by-distance is also identified, particularly in southern California, indicating that gene flow between localities does occur but is restricted. Many conclusions drawn from this study are concordant with geologic data as well as phylogeographic scenarios drawn for other codistributed California taxa.


2019 ◽  
Vol 158 (2) ◽  
pp. 98-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suziane A. Barcellos ◽  
Rafael Kretschmer ◽  
Marcelo S. de Souza ◽  
Alice L. Costa ◽  
Tiago M. Degrandi ◽  
...  

As in many other bird groups, data on karyotype organization and distribution of repetitive sequences are also lacking in species belonging to the family Hirundinidae. Thus, in the present study, we analyzed the karyotypes of 3 swallow species (Progne tapera, Progne chalybea, and Pygochelidon cyanoleuca) by Giemsa and AgNOR staining, C-banding, and FISH with 11 microsatellite sequences. The diploid chromosome number was 2n = 76 in all 3 species, and NORs were observed in 2 chromosome pairs each. The microsatellite distribution pattern was similar in both Progne species, whereas P. cyanoleuca presented a distinct organization. These repetitive DNA sequences were found in the centromeric, pericentromeric, and telomeric regions of the macrochromosomes, as well as in 2 interstitial blocks in the W chromosome. Most microchromosomes had mainly telomeric signals. The Z chromosome displayed 1 hybridization signal in P. tapera but none in the other species. In contrast, the W chromosome showed an accumulation of different microsatellite sequences. The swallow W chromosome is larger than that of most Passeriformes. The observed enlargement in chromosome size might be explained by these high amounts of repetitive sequences. In sum, our data highlight the significant role that microsatellite sequences may play in sex chromosome differentiation.


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.


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