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Testing for intraspecific postzygotic isolation between cryptic lineages of Pseudacris crucifer.

ABSTRACT: Phenotypically cryptic lineages appear common in nature, yet little is known about the mechanisms that initiate and/or maintain barriers to gene flow, or how secondary contact between them might influence evolutionary trajectories. The consequences of such contact between diverging lineages depend on hybrid fitness, highlighting the potential for postzygotic isolating barriers to play a role in the origins of biological species. Previous research shows that two cryptic, deeply diverged intraspecific mitochondrial lineages of a North American chorus frog, the spring peeper (Pseudacris crucifer), meet in secondary contact in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Our study quantified hatching success, tadpole survival, size at metamorphosis, and development time for experimentally generated pure lineage and hybrid tadpoles. Results suggest that lineages differ in tadpole survival and that F1 hybrids may have equal fitness and higher than average mass at metamorphosis compared with pure parental crosses. These findings imply hybrid early life viability may not be the pivotal reproductive isolation barrier helping to maintain lineage boundaries. However, we observed instances of tadpole gigantism, failure to metamorphose, and bent tails in some tadpoles from hybrid families. We also speculate and provide some evidence that apparent advantages or similarities of hybrids compared with pure lineage tadpoles may disappear when tadpoles are raised with competitors of different genetic makeup. This pilot study implies that ecological context and consideration of extrinsic factors may be a key to revealing mechanisms causing negative hybrid fitness during early life stages, a provocative avenue for future investigations on barriers to gene flow among these intraspecific lineages.

SUBMITTER: Stewart KA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3867898 | biostudies-other | 2013 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Testing for intraspecific postzygotic isolation between cryptic lineages of Pseudacris crucifer.

Stewart Kathryn A KA Lougheed Stephen C SC

Ecology and evolution 20131023 14

Phenotypically cryptic lineages appear common in nature, yet little is known about the mechanisms that initiate and/or maintain barriers to gene flow, or how secondary contact between them might influence evolutionary trajectories. The consequences of such contact between diverging lineages depend on hybrid fitness, highlighting the potential for postzygotic isolating barriers to play a role in the origins of biological species. Previous research shows that two cryptic, deeply diverged intraspec ...[more]

PMID: 24363891

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Project description:The venom apparatus is a conserved organ in parasitoid wasps that shows adaptations correlated with life-style diversification. Recent venom analyses from selected species reveal considerable complexity and high diversity in venom composition existing not only between closely related species but even between strains and individuals, which may partly determine the potential for parasitoid adaptation. However, the investigations have paid little attention to secondary venom components that also have significant functions in parasitism, and the data in regard to full and accurate quantity of venom compositions at the protein level is not available. Using a combination of transcriptomic and label-free quantitative proteomic, we here explored the venom components of the endoparasitoid Tetrastichus brontispae (Eulophidae), a species devoid of polydnavirus, and provided an in-depth comparison of the venom proteomes between its two closely related strains, Tb-On and Tb-Bl. Results showed that approximately 1505 venom proteins were identified in the venom apparatus of T. brontispae, consistent with the classical venom protein characteristics, including enzymes, protease inhibitors, binding proteins and some immune related proteins. The venom extracts also contained novel venom proteins, such as kynurenine-oxoglutarate transaminase, 4-coumarate CoA ligase and venom protein r-like protein. Comparative venom proteomes revealed that significant quantitative and qualitative changes in venom composition occurred when Tb-Bl strain, with an invasive beetle Brontispae longissima pupa as its habitual host, was exposed to another invasive beetle Octodonta nipae pupa as host consecutively for two years; although the most abundant venom proteins were shared between them. These significantly differentially expressed proteins were mainly enriched in fatty acid biosynthesis and melanotic encapsulation response by enrichment analyses. Furthermore, most of the significantly enriched proteins presented strikingly increased levels or were exclusively identified in the Tb-On strain. These combined results indicated that virulence factors in Tb-On strain might be linked to lipid metabolism or more venom is required to inhibit O. nipae pupa’s melanotic encapsulation upon its parasitism. Altogether, our data reveal that venom composition can quickly evolve and respond to host selection, mainly through rapid changes in regulation of protein abundance and/or the emergence of multigenic families by gene duplication. Our data additionally provide invaluable data for further functional analysis of parasitoid venoms.

Dataset Information

Testing for intraspecific postzygotic isolation between cryptic lineages of Pseudacris crucifer.

Publications

Testing for intraspecific postzygotic isolation between cryptic lineages of Pseudacris crucifer.

Similar Datasets

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