Can novel genetic analyses help to identify low-dispersal marine invasive species?

Genetic methods can be a powerful tool to resolve the native versus introduced status of populations whose taxonomy and biogeography are poorly understood. The genetic study of introduced species is presently dominated by analyses that identify signatures of recent colonization by means of summary statistics. Unfortunately, such approaches cannot be used in low‐dispersal species, in which recently established populations originating from elsewhere in the species' native range also experience periods of low population size because they are founded by few individuals. We tested whether coalescent‐based molecular analyses that provide detailed information about demographic history supported the hypothesis that a sea squirt whose distribution is centered on Tasmania was recently introduced to mainland Australia and New Zealand through human activities. Methods comparing trends in population size (Bayesian Skyline Plots and Approximate Bayesian Computation) were no more informative than summary statistics, likely because of recent intra‐Tasmanian dispersal. However, IMa2 estimates of divergence between putatively native and introduced populations provided information at a temporal scale suitable to differentiate between recent (potentially anthropogenic) introductions and ancient divergence, and indicated that all three non‐Tasmanian populations were founded during the period of European settlement. While this approach can be affected by inaccurate molecular dating, it has considerable (albeit largely unexplored) potential to corroborate nongenetic information in species with limited dispersal capabilities.     

Genetic diversity and differentiation of guanaco populations from Argentina inferred from microsatellite data

Genotype data from 14 microsatellite markers were used to assess the genetic diversity and differentiation of four guanaco populations from Argentine Patagonia. These animals were recently captured in the wild and maintained in semi-captivity for fibre production. Considerable genetic diversity in these populations was suggested by the finding of a total of 162 alleles, an average mean number of alleles per locus ranging from 6.50 to 8.19, and H(e) values ranging from 0.66 to 0.74. Assessment of population differentiation showed moderate but significant values of F(ST)=0.071 (P=0.000) and R(ST)=0.083 (P=0.000). An amova test showed that the genetic variation among populations was 5.6% while within populations it was 94.4%. A number of 6.6 migrants per generation may support these results. Unambiguous individual assignment to original populations was obtained for the Pilcaniyeu, Las Heras and La Esperanza populations. The erroneous assignment of 18.75% Rio Mayo individuals to the Las Heras population can be explained by the low genetic differentiation found between these two populations. Thirty-nine of 56 loci per population combinations were in Hardy--Weinberg disequilibrium because of guanaco heterozygote deficiency, which may be explained by population subdivision. The high level of genetic diversity of the guanacos analysed here indicates that the Patagonian guanaco constitutes an important genetic resource for conservation or economic utilization programmes.     

奠基者效应对海南坡鹿迁地保护种群遗传多样性的影响

在迁地保护中,奠基者效应通常会导致新建种群与源种群的遗传分化,并使新建种群的遗传多样性低于源种群。海南坡鹿(Cervuseldi hainanus)是世界濒危种,野生种群仅分布在中国海南岛。由于栖息地破坏和过度狩猎,至20世纪70年代,这个物种仅剩26只,已经濒临绝灭,被列为国家一级保护动物。自1976年开始对海南坡鹿实施就地保护和迁地保护,该种群的数量从最初的26只增加到1600多只。本文采用10个微卫星位点对一个源种群(大田种群)和5个迁地种群(邦溪、甘什岭、枫木、金牛岭、文昌种群)的遗传多样性进行检测,结果发现6个种群的遗传多样性水平均较低(He≈0·3);5个迁地种群分别有1、3或5个单态位点,大田种群无单态位点;邦溪种群与大田种群遗传分化显著,而甘什岭种群与大田种群的遗传分化不显著。结果表明,奠基者效应导致种群的遗传多样性水平较低,并且对于不同迁地种群,影响也不相同。造成这些差异的因素有建群者数量、引种方式和建群种群的结构。该研究为今后在海南岛建立新的海南坡鹿迁地种群提供建议和参考,同时也为其他濒危物种的迁地保护提供理论指导。     

Influence of drift and admixture on population structure of American black bears (Ursus americanus) in the Central Interior Highlands,USA, 50 years after translocation

Bottlenecks, founder events, and genetic drift often result in decreased genetic diversity and increased population differentiation. These events may follow abundance declines due to natural or anthropogenic perturbations, where translocations may be an effective conservation strategy to increase population size. American black bears (Ursus americanus) were nearly extirpated from the Central Interior Highlands, USA by 1920. In an effort to restore bears, 254 individuals were translocated from Minnesota, USA, and Manitoba, Canada, into the Ouachita and Ozark Mountains from 1958 to 1968. Using 15 microsatellites and mitochondrial haplotypes, we observed contemporary genetic diversity and differentiation between the source and supplemented populations. We inferred four genetic clusters: Source, Ouachitas, Ozarks, and a cluster in Missouri where no individuals were translocated. Coalescent models using approximate Bayesian computation identified an admixture model as having the highest posterior probability (0.942) over models where the translocation was unsuccessful or acted as a founder event. Nuclear genetic diversity was highest in the source (A_R = 9.11) and significantly lower in the translocated populations (A_R = 7.07–7.34; P = 0.004). The Missouri cluster had the lowest genetic diversity (A_R = 5.48) and served as a natural experiment showing the utility of translocations to increase genetic diversity following demographic bottlenecks. Differentiation was greater between the two admixed populations than either compared to the source, suggesting that genetic drift acted strongly over the eight generations since the translocation. The Ouachitas and Missouri were previously hypothesized to be remnant lineages. We observed a pretranslocation remnant signature in Missouri but not in the Ouachitas.     

The significance of island biotas

Island biotas have played a significant part in evolutionary biology, because they are so often starkly different from continental biotas (even though it took Darwin some time to realize this; his visit to the Galapagos Islands was not the converting experience often claimed for it). In recent years, most interest has concentrated on species diversity on islands, but differentiation of endemics is probably worth more attention. Key factors in the evolution of island forms include the complementary processes of Mayr's 'genetic revolution' (a genetic bottleneck, particularly when a previously empty area is colonized; and adaptation in isolation), the opportunistic (not perfecting) nature of natural selection, and the ecological history of island colonists.     

Interaction between area effects and variation with habitat in Cepaea

Populations of Cepaea nemoralis in Warwickshire occupy habitats of considerable temporal stability, most being at least 250 years old, and some much older. As expected from earlier work, shell pattern polymorphisms in these populations show variation with habitat of a kind suggesting the operation of visual selection for crypsis. They also show patterns of microgeographical variation unrelated to habitat. Although of a less extreme character, this variation resembles the 'area effects' seen in downland populations of Cepaea , in the lack of coincidence of variation at different loci, and in the existence of stronger and larger scale patterns in banding than in colour morphs. A similar explanation is advanced for their occurrence: previous bottlenecks and colonization from small relicts with founder effects. The less marked character of the variation is expected from the greater habitat stability and continuity in Warwickshire compared with downland. A clear colonization effect is seen in the inverse relationship between age of habitat and frequency of yellow in woodland populations. The results suggest that population histories affect variation in Cepaea even in areas of relative habitat stability.     

Isozyme variation inBulnesia retama,B. schickendantzii andB. foliosa (Zygophyllaceae)

The genetic variation between two allopatric populations ofBulnesia retama and that ofB. schickendantzii andB. foliosa was investigated. The Peruvian population ofB. retama showed low values of P (0.117) and He (0.057) compared to those in the Argentine population with P = 0.59 and He = 0.269;B. schickendantzii showed P = 0.54 andB. foliosa P = 0.17. Genetic identity between the latter was 0.836 and between the allopatric populations ofB. retama was 0.89; the Peruvian population had reduced allelic variation per locus (A = 1.176) in comparison to the Argentine population (A = 1.955). The values of A, P, He andWright's fixation indices suggest that the Peruvian population could have originated from a single or very few migrants from southern latitudes (founder effect).     

A hierarchical analysis of population genetic structure in Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. trifolii

Little is known about the population processes that shape the genetic diversity in natural populations of rhizobia. A sample of 912 Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar trifolii isolates were collected from naturalized red clover populations ( Trifolium pratense ) and analyzed for 15 allozyme loci to determine the levels and distribution of genetic diversity. Hierarchical analyses compared different sampling levels, geographical separation, and temporal separation. Total genetic diversity across all isolates was H = 0.426, with 57.6% of the total diversity found among isolates obtained from individual red clover plants. Relatively low genetic differentiation among populations and high differentiation among plants within populations was observed; this suggests that gene flow and founder effect act differently at geographical and local scales. Significant differences were observed in (i) allele frequencies among populations and among plants within populations, and (ii) the frequency distribution of the most widespread and the most abundant strains. When multilocus linkage disequilibrium was calculated, significant levels of disequilibrium were observed in the total sample and in three of the eight populations.     

Founder effects and sex ratio in the gynodioecious Thymus vulgaris L.

Thymus vulgaris is a gynodioecious species (in which females and hermaphrodites coexist) with a highly variable frequency of females among natural populations (5–95%) and a high average female frequency (60%). Sex determination involves both cytoplasmic genes responsible for male sterility, i.e. the female phenotype, and specific nuclear factors responsible for the restoration of male fertility, and thus a hermaphrodite phenotype. In this study, molecular markers of the mitochondrial genome have been used to quantify the cytoplasmic diversity in 11 clumps of individuals observed in four recently founded populations. The very low diversity within patches in conjunction with the strong diversity among patches strongly suggests that clumps of individuals are the result of single matrilinear families. In clumps that contain mainly females, all the analysed females showed the same cytoplasmic pattern. This pattern differed from that shown by neighbouring hermaphrodites, indicating that the determination of sex is locally cytoplasmic. A comparison of genetic diversity before and after fire in one population showed that disturbances may cause a reduction in genetic diversity and a concurrent induction of local cytoplasmic determination of sex. Such cytoplasmic determination of sex in colonizing populations, together with the greater seed set of females, may largely improve the colonizing ability of the species.     

Population genetic structure of the South American species Hypochaeris lutea (Asteraceae)

The genus Hypochaeris has a recent evolutionary history caused by long‐distance dispersal in conjunction with adaptive radiation in the South American continent. Hypochaeris lutea is a perennial herb that grows mostly at altitudes of around 1000 m in cold swamps of the southern regions of Brazil. We investigated the amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) in 270 individuals representing 11 Brazilian populations of H. lutea to elucidate the population genetic structure of this species. The frequencies of polymorphic loci and gene diversity ranged from 83.42% to 91.66% and from 0.26 to 0.34, respectively. Analysis of molecular variance revealed that most of the genetic variability was found within (76.67%) rather than among (23.3%) populations, agreeing with the pattern of genetic distribution within and among populations observed in other allogamous species of Hypochaeris. A Mantel test showed no correlation between genetic and geographic distances when all populations were considered. Simulations performed using a Bayesian approach consistently identified two clusters with different admixture proportions of individuals, as also revealed by a UPGMA dendrogram of populations. The pattern of genetic structure observed in H. lutea is consistent with a process of successive colonization events by long‐distance dispersal resembling the rapid and recent radiation that has been proposed to explain the origin of the South American species of Hypochaeris.