Invasion Success in Cogongrass (Imperata cylindrica): A Population Genetic Approach Exploring Genetic Diversity and Historical Introductions

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rima D. Lucardi ◽  
Lisa E. Wallace ◽  
Gary N. Ervin

AbstractPropagule pressure significantly contributes to and limits the potential success of a biological invasion, especially during transport, introduction, and establishment. Events such as multiple introductions of foreign parent material and gene flow among them can increase genetic diversity in founding populations, often leading to greater invasion success. We applied the tools and theory of population genetics to better understand the dynamics of successful biological invasion. The focal species, cogongrass, is a perennial invasive grass species significantly affecting the Gulf Coast and southeastern region of the United States. The literature indicates separate, allopatric introductions of material from East Asia (Philippines and Japan) into the U.S. states of Mississippi and Alabama. Molecular analysis of samples from those two states utilized amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers on 388 individuals from 21 localities. We hypothesized that previously isolated lineages of cogongrass are present and crossing in the Southeast. We observed genetic variation within localities (0.013 ≤ heterozygosity (He) ≤ 0.051, mean = 0.028 ± 0.001) with significant and substantial population structure (FST= 0.534, P < 0.001). Population structure analyses detected two genetically defined and statistically supported populations, which appear to have experienced some admixture. The geographic distribution of those populations was consistent with the two-introduction scenario reported previously. These results are also consistent with contact in the invasive range of previously isolated lineages from the native range.

2015 ◽  
Vol 105 (1) ◽  
pp. 110-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. P. Naegele ◽  
A. J. Tomlinson ◽  
M. K. Hausbeck

Pepper is the third most important solanaceous crop in the United States and fourth most important worldwide. To identify sources of resistance for commercial breeding, 170 pepper genotypes from five continents and 45 countries were evaluated for Phytophthora fruit rot resistance using two isolates of Phytophthora capsici. Genetic diversity and population structure were assessed on a subset of 157 genotypes using 23 polymorphic simple sequence repeats. Partial resistance and isolate-specific interactions were identified in the population at both 3 and 5 days postinoculation (dpi). Plant introductions (PIs) 640833 and 566811 were the most resistant lines evaluated at 5 dpi to isolates 12889 and OP97, with mean lesion areas less than Criollo de Morelos. Genetic diversity was moderate (0.44) in the population. The program STRUCTURE inferred four genetic clusters with moderate to very great differentiation among clusters. Most lines evaluated were susceptible or moderately susceptible at 5 dpi, and no lines evaluated were completely resistant to Phytophthora fruit rot. Significant population structure was detected when pepper varieties were grouped by predefined categories of disease resistance, continent, and country of origin. Moderately resistant or resistant PIs to both isolates of P. capsici at 5 dpi were in genetic clusters one and two.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle M Lewald ◽  
Antoine Abrieux ◽  
Derek A Wilson ◽  
Yoosook Lee ◽  
William R Conner ◽  
...  

Drosophila suzukii, or spotted-wing drosophila, is now an established pest in many parts of the world, causing significant damage to numerous fruit crop industries. Native to East Asia, D. suzukii infestations started in the United States a decade ago, occupying a wide range of climates. To better understand invasion ecology of this pest, knowledge of past migration events, population structure, and genetic diversity is needed. To improve on previous studies examining genetic structure of D. suzukii, we sequenced whole genomes of 237 individual flies collected across the continental U.S., as well as several representative sites in Europe, Brazil, and Asia, to identify hundreds of thousands of genetic markers for analysis. We analyzed these markers to detect population structure, to reconstruct migration events, and to estimate genetic diversity and differentiation within and among the continents. We observed strong population structure between West and East Coast populations in the U.S., but no evidence of any population structure North to South, suggesting there is no broad-scale adaptations occurring in response to the large differences in regional weather conditions. We also find evidence of repeated migration events from Asia into North America have provided increased levels of genetic diversity, which does not appear to be the case for Brazil or Europe. This large genomic dataset will spur future research into genomic adaptations underlying D. suzukii pest activity and development of novel control methods for this agricultural pest.


Weed Science ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 409-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren A. Dennhardt ◽  
Edward S. DeKeyser ◽  
Sarah A. Tennefos ◽  
Steven E. Travers

The study of colonizing and of dominant grass species is essential for prairie conservation efforts. We sought to answer how naturalized Kentucky bluegrass in the northern Great Plains has become successful in the last 20 yr despite its long history in the northern Great Plains. We tested for evidence of geographical differentiation using flow cytometry and microsatellite markers to ascertain the population genetics of Kentucky bluegrass. Across all tested wild populations, high levels of genetic diversity were detected along with moderate levels of structure. Mantel tests of geographical patterns were not significant. Using clonal assignment, we found two major clones that made up the majority of the tested wild populations. When we compared the wild individuals to pedigree cultivars, we found virtually no genetic overlap across all tests, which did not support our hypothesis of developed cultivars contributing to high genetic diversity in natural populations. Furthermore, DNA content tests indicated a narrow range in ploidy in wild populations compared with lawn cultivars, further supporting a hypothesis of divergence between wild and pedigree cultivars. These results indicate the recent invasion of Kentucky bluegrass in the northern Great Plains is not because of adaptation or propagule pressure, but rather likely an environmental or land use shift.


2010 ◽  
Vol 100 (7) ◽  
pp. 708-718 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kendra Baumgartner ◽  
Renaud Travadon ◽  
Johann Bruhn ◽  
Sarah E. Bergemann

Armillaria mellea infects hundreds of plant species in natural and managed ecosystems throughout the Northern hemisphere. Previously reported nuclear genetic divergence between eastern and western U.S. isolates is consistent with the disjunct range of A. mellea in North America, which is restricted mainly to both coasts of the United States. We investigated patterns of population structure and genetic diversity of the eastern (northern and southern Appalachians, Ozarks, and western Great Lakes) and western (Berkeley, Los Angeles, St. Helena, and San Jose, CA) regions of the United States. In total, 156 diploid isolates were genotyped using 12 microsatellite loci. Absence of genetic differentiation within either eastern subpopulations (θST = –0.002, P = 0.5 ) or western subpopulations (θST = 0.004, P = 0.3 ) suggests that spore dispersal within each region is sufficient to prevent geographic differentiation. In contrast to the western United States, our finding of more than one genetic cluster of isolates within the eastern United States (K = 3), revealed by Bayesian assignment of multilocus genotypes in STRUCTURE and confirmed by genetic multivariate analyses, suggests that eastern subpopulations are derived from multiple founder sources. The existence of amplifiable and nonamplifiable loci and contrasting patterns of genetic diversity between the two regions demonstrate that there are two geographically isolated, divergent genetic pools of A. mellea in the United States.


2008 ◽  
Vol 190 (8) ◽  
pp. 2831-2840 ◽  
Author(s):  
Narjol González-Escalona ◽  
Jaime Martinez-Urtaza ◽  
Jaime Romero ◽  
Romilio T. Espejo ◽  
Lee-Ann Jaykus ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Vibrio parahaemolyticus is an important human pathogen whose transmission is associated with the consumption of contaminated seafood. There is a growing public health concern due to the emergence of a pandemic strain causing severe outbreaks worldwide. Many questions remain unanswered regarding the evolution and population structure of V. parahaemolyticus. In this work, we describe a multilocus sequence typing (MLST) scheme for V. parahaemolyticus based on the internal fragment sequences of seven housekeeping genes. This MLST scheme was applied to 100 V. parahaemolyticus strains isolated from geographically diverse clinical (n = 37) and environmental (n = 63) sources. The sequences obtained from this work were deposited and are available in a public database (http://pubmlst.org/vparahaemolyticus ). Sixty-two unique sequence types were identified, and most (50) were represented by a single isolate, suggesting a high level of genetic diversity. Three major clonal complexes were identified by eBURST analysis. Separate clonal complexes were observed for V. parahaemolyticus isolates originating from the Pacific and Gulf coasts of the United States, while a third clonal complex consisted of strains belonging to the pandemic clonal complex with worldwide distribution. The data reported in this study indicate that V. parahaemolyticus is genetically diverse with a semiclonal population structure and an epidemic structure similar to that of Vibrio cholerae. Genetic diversity in V. parahaemolyticus appears to be driven primarily by frequent recombination rather than mutation, with recombination ratios estimated at 2.5:1 and 8.8:1 by allele and site, respectively. Application of this MLST scheme to more V. parahaemolyticus strains and by different laboratories will facilitate production of a global picture of the epidemiology and evolution of this pathogen.


2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (51) ◽  
pp. e2116211118
Author(s):  
Cornelia Jaspers ◽  
Moritz Ehrlich ◽  
José Martin Pujolar ◽  
Sven Künzel ◽  
Till Bayer ◽  
...  

Invasion rates have increased in the past 100 y irrespective of international conventions. What characterizes a successful invasion event? And how does genetic diversity translate into invasion success? Employing a whole-genome perspective using one of the most successful marine invasive species world-wide as a model, we resolve temporal invasion dynamics during independent invasion events in Eurasia. We reveal complex regionally independent invasion histories including cases of recurrent translocations, time-limited translocations, and stepping-stone range expansions with severe bottlenecks within the same species. Irrespective of these different invasion dynamics, which lead to contrasting patterns of genetic diversity, all nonindigenous populations are similarly successful. This illustrates that genetic diversity, per se, is not necessarily the driving force behind invasion success. Other factors such as propagule pressure and repeated introductions are an important contribution to facilitate successful invasions. This calls into question the dominant paradigm of the genetic paradox of invasions, i.e., the successful establishment of nonindigenous populations with low levels of genetic diversity.


2019 ◽  
Vol 147 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. H. Sahaza ◽  
E. Duarte-Escalante ◽  
C. Canteros ◽  
G. Rodríguez-Arellanes ◽  
M. R. Reyes-Montes ◽  
...  

AbstractWe studied the genetic diversity and the population structure of human isolates ofHistoplasma capsulatum, the causative agent of histoplasmosis, using a randomly amplified polymorphic DNA-polymerase chain reaction (RAPD-PCR) assay to identify associations with the geographic distribution of isolates from Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia and Argentina. The RAPD-PCR pattern analyses revealed the genetic diversity by estimating the percentage of polymorphic loci, effective number of alleles, Shannon's index and heterozygosity. Population structure was identified by the index of association (IA) test. Thirty-seven isolates were studied and clustered into three groups by the unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA). Group I contained five subgroups based on geographic origin. The consistency of the UPGMA dendrogram was estimated by the cophenetic correlation coefficient (CCCr= 0.94,P= 0.001). Isolates from Mexico and Colombia presented higher genetic diversity than isolates from Argentina. Isolates from Guatemala grouped together with the reference strains from the United States of America and Panama. TheIAvalues suggest the presence of a clonal population structure in the ArgentinianH. capsulatumisolates and also validate the presence of recombining populations in the Colombian and Mexican isolates. These data contribute to the knowledge on the molecular epidemiology of histoplasmosis in Latin America.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 3261-3269
Author(s):  
Hannah C Halpern ◽  
Peng Qi ◽  
Robert C Kemerait ◽  
Marin T Brewer

Abstract To better understand the evolution of virulence we are interested in identifying the genetic basis of this trait in pathogenic fungi and in developing tools for the rapid characterization of variation in virulence among populations associated with epidemics. Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum (FOV) is a haploid fungus that causes devastating outbreaks of Fusarium wilt of cotton wherever it is grown. In the United States, six nominal races and eleven genotypes of FOV have been characterized based on the translation elongation factor (EF-1α) gene and intergenic spacer region (IGS), but it is unclear how race or genotype based on these regions relates to population structure or virulence. We used genotyping-by-sequencing to identify SNPs and determine genetic diversity and population structure among 86 diverse FOV isolates. Six individuals of Fusarium oxysporum closely related to FOV were genotyped and included in some analyses. Between 193 and 354 SNPs were identified and included in the analyses depending on the pipeline and filtering criteria used. Phylogenetic trees, minimum spanning networks (MSNs), principal components analysis (PCA), and discriminant analysis of principal components (DAPC) demonstrated that races and genotypes of FOV are generally not structured by EF-1α genotype, nor are they monophyletic groups with the exception of race 4 isolates, which are distinct. Furthermore, DAPC identified between 11 and 14 genetically distinct clusters of FOV, whereas only eight EF-1α genotypes were represented among isolates; suggesting that FOV, especially isolates within the widely distributed and common race 1 genotype, is more genetically diverse than currently recognized.


2004 ◽  
Vol 70 (12) ◽  
pp. 7210-7219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Blanca de las Rivas ◽  
Ángela Marcobal ◽  
Rosario Muñoz

ABSTRACT Oenococcus oeni is the organism of choice for promoting malolactic fermentation in wine. The population biology of O. oeni is poorly understood and remains unclear. For a better understanding of the mode of genetic variation within this species, we investigated by using multilocus sequence typing (MLST) with the gyrB, pgm, ddl, recP, and mleA genes the genetic diversity and genetic relationships among 18 O. oeni strains isolated in various years from wines of the United States, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy. These strains have also been characterized by ribotyping and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of the PCR-amplified 16S-23S rRNA gene intergenic spacer region (ISR). Ribotyping grouped the strains into two groups; however, the RFLP analysis of the ISRs showed no differences in the strains analyzed. In contrast, MLST in oenococci had a good discriminatory ability, and we have found a higher genetic diversity than indicated by ribotyping analysis. All sequence types were represented by a single strain, and all the strains could be distinguished from each other because they had unique combinations of alleles. Strains assumed to be identical showed the same sequence type. Phylogenetic analyses indicated a panmictic population structure in O. oeni. Sequences were analyzed for evidence of recombination by split decomposition analysis and analysis of clustered polymorphisms. All results indicated that recombination plays a major role in creating the genetic heterogeneity of O. oeni. A low standardized index of association value indicated that the O. oeni genes analyzed are close to linkage equilibrium. This study constitutes the first step in the development of an MLST method for O. oeni and the first example of the application of MLST to a nonpathogenic food production bacteria.


Author(s):  
Shuying Yin ◽  
Yanrong Wang ◽  
Zhibiao Nan

This study aimed to understand the genetic diversity and population structure of alfalfa germplasm from the United States. In this study, the population structure and genetic diversity of six alfalfa cultivars of United States origin were investigated by microsatellite analysis with 40 individuals per cultivar. A total of 312 discernible alleles were amplified from the whole genome with an average of 31.2 alleles per locus. The average values of polymorphic information content and Shannon’s information index were 0.928 and 0.133, respectively, showing high levels of genetic diversity. Two populations were identified by STRUCTURE software with principal coordinate analysis and neighbour-joining clustering. Analysis of molecular variance analysis (AMOVA) revealed that the majority of genetic variation was within cultivars (96.42%) rather than between cultivars (3.58%). In conclusion, analyses of genetic diversity and population structure may be useful for the genetic analysis and utilization of genetic variation in alfalfa breeding.


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