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Rapid adaptive evolution of northeastern coyotes via hybridization with wolves.

ABSTRACT: The dramatic expansion of the geographical range of coyotes over the last 90 years is partly explained by changes to the landscape and local extinctions of wolves, but hybridization may also have facilitated their movement. We present mtDNA sequence data from 686 eastern coyotes and measurements of 196 skulls related to their two-front colonization pattern. We find evidence for hybridization with Great Lakes wolves only along the northern front, which is correlated with larger skull size, increased sexual dimorphism and a five times faster colonization rate than the southern front. Northeastern haplotype diversity is low, suggesting that this population was founded by very few females moving across the Saint Lawrence River. This northern front then spread south and west, eventually coming in contact with an expanding front of non-hybrid coyotes in western New York and Pennsylvania. We suggest that hybridization with wolves in Canada introduced adaptive variation that contributed to larger size, which in turn allowed eastern coyotes to better hunt deer, allowing a more rapid colonization of new areas than coyotes without introgressed wolf genes. Thus, hybridization is a conduit by which genetic variation from an extirpated species has been reintroduced into northeastern USA, enabling northeastern coyotes to occupy a portion of the niche left vacant by wolves.

SUBMITTER: Kays R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2817252 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Rapid adaptive evolution of northeastern coyotes via hybridization with wolves.

Kays Roland R Curtis Abigail A Kirchman Jeremy J JJ

Biology letters 20090923 1

The dramatic expansion of the geographical range of coyotes over the last 90 years is partly explained by changes to the landscape and local extinctions of wolves, but hybridization may also have facilitated their movement. We present mtDNA sequence data from 686 eastern coyotes and measurements of 196 skulls related to their two-front colonization pattern. We find evidence for hybridization with Great Lakes wolves only along the northern front, which is correlated with larger skull size, increa ...[more]

PMID: 19776058

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Project description:Anthropogenic hybridization of historically isolated taxa has become a primary conservation challenge for many imperiled species. Indeed, hybridization between red wolves (Canis rufus) and coyotes (Canis latrans) poses a significant challenge to red wolf recovery. We considered seven hypotheses to assess factors influencing hybridization between red wolves and coyotes via pair-bonding between the two species. Because long-term monogamy and defense of all-purpose territories are core characteristics of both species, mate choice has long-term consequences. Therefore, red wolves may choose similar-sized mates to acquire partners that behave similarly to themselves in the use of space and diet. We observed multiple factors influencing breeding pair formation by red wolves and found that most wolves paired with similar-sized conspecifics and wolves that formed congeneric pairs with nonwolves (coyotes and hybrids) were mostly female wolves, the smaller of the two sexes. Additionally, we observed that lower red wolf abundance relative to nonwolves and the absence of helpers increased the probability that wolves consorted with nonwolves. However, successful pairings between red wolves and nonwolves were associated with wolves that maintained small home ranges. Behaviors associated with territoriality are energetically demanding and behaviors (e.g., aggressive interactions, foraging, and space use) involved in maintaining territories are influenced by body size. Consequently, we propose the hypothesis that size disparities between consorting red wolves and coyotes influence positive assortative mating and may represent a reproductive barrier between the two species. We offer that it may be possible to maintain wild populations of red wolves in the presence of coyotes if management strategies increase red wolf abundance on the landscape by mitigating key threats, such as human-caused mortality and hybridization with coyotes. Increasing red wolf abundance would likely restore selection pressures that increase mean body and home-range sizes of red wolves and decrease hybridization rates via reduced occurrence of congeneric pairs.

Project description:Interference competition occurs when two species have similar resource requirements and one species is dominant and can suppress or exclude the subordinate species. Wolves (Canis lupus) and coyotes (C. latrans) are sympatric across much of their range in North America where white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) can be an important prey species. We assessed the extent of niche overlap between wolves and coyotes using activity, diet, and space use as evidence for interference competition during three periods related to the availability of white-tailed deer fawns in the Upper Great Lakes region of the USA. We assessed activity overlap (Δ) with data from accelerometers onboard global positioning system (GPS) collars worn by wolves (n = 11) and coyotes (n = 13). We analyzed wolf and coyote scat to estimate dietary breadth (B) and food niche overlap (α). We used resource utilization functions (RUFs) with canid GPS location data, white-tailed deer RUFs, ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) and snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) densities, and landscape covariates to compare population-level space use. Wolves and coyotes exhibited considerable overlap in activity (Δ = 0.86-0.92), diet (B = 3.1-4.9; α = 0.76-1.0), and space use of active and inactive RUFs across time periods. Coyotes relied less on deer as prey compared to wolves and consumed greater amounts of smaller prey items. Coyotes exhibited greater population-level variation in space use compared to wolves. Additionally, while active and inactive, coyotes exhibited greater selection of some land covers as compared to wolves. Our findings lend support for interference competition between wolves and coyotes with significant overlap across resource attributes examined. The mechanisms through which wolves and coyotes coexist appear to be driven largely by how coyotes, a generalist species, exploit narrow differences in resource availability and display greater population-level plasticity in resource use.

Project description:BackgroundLignocellulosic biomass is a common resource across the globe, and its fermentation offers a promising option for generating renewable liquid transportation fuels. The deconstruction of lignocellulosic biomass releases sugars that can be fermented by microbes, but these processes also produce fermentation inhibitors, such as aromatic acids and aldehydes. Several research projects have investigated lignocellulosic biomass fermentation by the baker's yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Most projects have taken synthetic biological approaches or have explored naturally occurring diversity in S. cerevisiae to enhance stress tolerance, xylose consumption, or ethanol production. Despite these efforts, improved strains with new properties are needed. In other industrial processes, such as wine and beer fermentation, interspecies hybrids have combined important traits from multiple species, suggesting that interspecies hybridization may also offer potential for biofuel research.ResultsTo investigate the efficacy of this approach for traits relevant to lignocellulosic biofuel production, we generated synthetic hybrids by crossing engineered xylose-fermenting strains of S. cerevisiae with wild strains from various Saccharomyces species. These interspecies hybrids retained important parental traits, such as xylose consumption and stress tolerance, while displaying intermediate kinetic parameters and, in some cases, heterosis (hybrid vigor). Next, we exposed them to adaptive evolution in ammonia fiber expansion-pretreated corn stover hydrolysate and recovered strains with improved fermentative traits. Genome sequencing showed that the genomes of these evolved synthetic hybrids underwent rearrangements, duplications, and deletions. To determine whether the genus Saccharomyces contains additional untapped potential, we screened a genetically diverse collection of more than 500 wild, non-engineered Saccharomyces isolates and uncovered a wide range of capabilities for traits relevant to cellulosic biofuel production. Notably, Saccharomyces mikatae strains have high innate tolerance to hydrolysate toxins, while some Saccharomyces species have a robust native capacity to consume xylose.ConclusionsThis research demonstrates that hybridization is a viable method to combine industrially relevant traits from diverse yeast species and that members of the genus Saccharomyces beyond S. cerevisiae may offer advantageous genes and traits of interest to the lignocellulosic biofuel industry.

Dataset Information

Rapid adaptive evolution of northeastern coyotes via hybridization with wolves.

Publications

Rapid adaptive evolution of northeastern coyotes via hybridization with wolves.

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