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Lineage-specific molecular probing reveals novel diversity and ecological partitioning of haplosporidians.

ABSTRACT: Haplosporidians are rhizarian parasites of mostly marine invertebrates. They include the causative agents of diseases of commercially important molluscs, including MSX disease in oysters. Despite their importance for food security, their diversity and distributions are poorly known. We used a combination of group-specific PCR primers to probe environmental DNA samples from planktonic and benthic environments in Europe, South Africa and Panama. This revealed several highly distinct novel clades, novel lineages within known clades and seasonal (spring vs autumn) and habitat-related (brackish vs littoral) variation in assemblage composition. High frequencies of haplosporidian lineages in the water column provide the first evidence for life cycles involving planktonic hosts, host-free stages or both. The general absence of haplosporidian lineages from all large online sequence data sets emphasises the importance of lineage-specific approaches for studying these highly divergent and diverse lineages. Combined with host-based field surveys, environmental sampling for pathogens will enhance future detection of known and novel pathogens and the assessment of disease risk.

SUBMITTER: Hartikainen H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3869015 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Lineage-specific molecular probing reveals novel diversity and ecological partitioning of haplosporidians.

Hartikainen Hanna H Ashford Oliver S OS Berney Cédric C Okamura Beth B Feist Stephen W SW Baker-Austin Craig C Stentiford Grant D GD Bass David D

The ISME journal 20130822 1

Haplosporidians are rhizarian parasites of mostly marine invertebrates. They include the causative agents of diseases of commercially important molluscs, including MSX disease in oysters. Despite their importance for food security, their diversity and distributions are poorly known. We used a combination of group-specific PCR primers to probe environmental DNA samples from planktonic and benthic environments in Europe, South Africa and Panama. This revealed several highly distinct novel clades, ...[more]

PMID: 23966100

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Project description:Speciation among members of the Anopheles gambiae complex is thought to be promoted by disruptive selection and ecological divergence acting on sets of adaptation genes protected from recombination by polymorphic paracentric chromosomal inversions. However, shared chromosomal polymorphisms between the M and S molecular forms of An. gambiae and insufficient information about their relationship with ecological divergence challenge this view. We used Geographic Information Systems, Ecological Niche Factor Analysis, and Bayesian multilocus genetic clustering to explore the nature and extent of ecological and chromosomal differentiation of M and S across all the biogeographic domains of Cameroon in Central Africa, in order to understand the role of chromosomal arrangements in ecological specialisation within and among molecular forms.Species distribution modelling with presence-only data revealed differences in the ecological niche of both molecular forms and the sibling species, An. arabiensis. The fundamental environmental envelope of the two molecular forms, however, overlapped to a large extent in the rainforest, where they occurred in sympatry. The S form had the greatest niche breadth of all three taxa, whereas An. arabiensis and the M form had the smallest niche overlap. Correspondence analysis of M and S karyotypes confirmed that molecular forms shared similar combinations of chromosomal inversion arrangements in response to the eco-climatic gradient defining the main biogeographic domains occurring across Cameroon. Savanna karyotypes of M and S, however, segregated along the smaller-scale environmental gradient defined by the second ordination axis. Population structure analysis identified three chromosomal clusters, each containing a mixture of M and S specimens. In both M and S, alternative karyotypes were segregating in contrasted environments, in agreement with a strong ecological adaptive value of chromosomal inversions.Our data suggest that inversions on the second chromosome of An. gambiae are not causal to the evolution of reproductive isolation between the M and S forms. Rather, they are involved in ecological specialization to a similar extent in both genetic backgrounds, and most probably predated lineage splitting between molecular forms. However, because chromosome-2 inversions promote ecological divergence, resulting in spatial and/or temporal isolation between ecotypes, they might favour mutations in other ecologically significant genes to accumulate in unlinked chromosomal regions. When such mutations occur in portions of the genome where recombination is suppressed, such as the pericentromeric regions known as speciation islands in An. gambiae, they would contribute further to the development of reproductive isolation.

Project description:BackgroundThe link between biodiversity and ecosystem processes has firmly been established, but the mechanisms underpinning this relationship are poorly documented. Most studies have focused on terrestrial plant systems where resource use can be difficult to quantify as species rely on a limited number of common resources. Investigating resource use at the bulk level may not always be of sufficient resolution to detect subtle differences in resource use, as species-specific nutritional niches at the biochemical level may also moderate diversity effects on resource use.Methodology/principal findingsHere we use three co-occurring marine benthic echinoderms (Brissopsis lyrifera, Mesothuria intestinalis, Parastichopus tremulus) that feed on the same phytodetrital food source, to determine whether resource partitioning is the principal mechanism underpinning diversity effects on resource use. Specifically we investigate the use of phytodetrital pigments (chlorophylls and carotenoids) because many of these are essential for biological functions, including reproduction. Pigments were identified and quantified using reverse-phase high performance liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and data were analysed using a combination of extended linear regression with generalised least squares (GLS) estimation and standard multivariate techniques. Our analyses reveal no species-specific selectivity for particular algal pigments, confirming that these three species do not partition food resources at the biochemical level. Nevertheless, we demonstrate increased total resource use in diverse treatments as a result of selection effects and the dominance of one species (B. lyrifera).ConclusionOverall, we found no evidence for resource partitioning at the biochemical level, as pigment composition was similar between individuals, which is likely due to plentiful food availability. Reduced intra-specific competition in the species mixture combined with greater adsorption efficiency and differences in feeding behaviour likely explain the dominant use of resources by B. lyrifera.

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Lineage-specific molecular probing reveals novel diversity and ecological partitioning of haplosporidians.

Publications

Lineage-specific molecular probing reveals novel diversity and ecological partitioning of haplosporidians.

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