Dataset Information

Characterization of microsatellite loci in the lichen-forming fungus Cetraria aculeata (Parmeliaceae, Ascomycota).

ABSTRACT: PREMISE OF THE STUDY:Polymorphic microsatellite markers were developed for the lichen species Cetraria aculeata (Parmeliaceae) to study fine-scale population diversity and phylogeographic structure. METHODS AND RESULTS:Using Illumina HiSeq and MiSeq, 15 fungus-specific microsatellite markers were developed and tested on 81 specimens from four populations from Spain. The number of alleles ranged from four to 13 alleles per locus with a mean of 7.9, and average gene diversities varied from 0.40 to 0.73 over four populations. The amplification rates of 10 markers (CA01-CA10) in populations of C. aculeata exceeded 85%. The markers also amplified across a range of closely related species, except for locus CA05, which did not amplify in C. australiensis and C. "panamericana," and locus CA10 which did not amplify in C. australiensis. CONCLUSIONS:The identified microsatellite markers will be used to study the genetic diversity and phylogeographic structure in populations of C. aculeata in western Eurasia.

SUBMITTER: Lutsak T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5033364 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Characterization of microsatellite loci in the lichen-forming fungus Cetraria aculeata (Parmeliaceae, Ascomycota).

Lutsak Tetiana T Fernández-Mendoza Fernando F Greshake Bastian B Dal Grande Francesco F Ebersberger Ingo I Ott Sieglinde S Printzen Christian C

Applications in plant sciences 20160919 9

<h4>Premise of the study</h4>Polymorphic microsatellite markers were developed for the lichen species Cetraria aculeata (Parmeliaceae) to study fine-scale population diversity and phylogeographic structure.<h4>Methods and results</h4>Using Illumina HiSeq and MiSeq, 15 fungus-specific microsatellite markers were developed and tested on 81 specimens from four populations from Spain. The number of alleles ranged from four to 13 alleles per locus with a mean of 7.9, and average gene diversities vari ...[more]

PMID: 27672520

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Project description:Background and aimsPhenotypic variability is a successful strategy in lichens for colonizing different habitats. Vagrancy has been reported as a specific adaptation for lichens living in steppe habitats around the world. Among the facultatively vagrant species, the cosmopolitan Cetraria aculeata apparently forms extremely modified vagrant thalli in steppe habitats of Central Spain. The aim of this study was to investigate whether these changes are phenotypic plasticity (a single genotype producing different phenotypes), by characterizing the anatomical and ultrastructural changes observed in vagrant morphs, and measuring differences in ecophysiological performance.MethodsSpecimens of vagrant and attached populations of C. aculeata were collected on the steppes of Central Spain. The fungal internal transcribed spacer (ITS), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPD) and the large sub-unit of the mitochondrial ribosomal DNA (mtLSUm), and the algal ITS and actin were studied within a population genetics framework. Semi-thin and ultrathin sections were analysed by means of optical, scanning electron and transmission electron microscopy. Gas exchange and chlorophyll fluorescence were used to compare the physiological performance of both morphs.Key results and conclusionsVagrant and attached morphs share multilocus haplotypes which may indicate that they belong to the same species in spite of their completely different anatomy. However, differentiation tests suggested that vagrant specimens do not represent a random sub-set of the surrounding population. The morphological differences were related to anatomical and ultrastructural differences. Large intercalary growth rates of thalli after the loss of the basal-apical thallus polarity may be the cause of the increased growth shown by vagrant specimens. The anatomical and morphological changes lead to greater duration of ecophysiological activity in vagrant specimens. Although the anatomical and physiological changes could be chance effects, the genetic differentiation between vagrant and attached sub-populations and the higher biomass of the former show fitness effects and adaptation to dry environmental conditions in steppe habitats.

Project description:BackgroundFactors promoting diversification in lichen symbioses remain largely unexplored. While Pleistocene events have been important for driving diversification and affecting distributions in many groups, recent estimates suggest that major radiations within some genera in the largest clade of macrolichens (Parmeliaceae, Ascomycota) vastly predate the Pleistocene. To better understand the temporal placement and sequence of diversification events in lichens, we estimated divergence times in a common lichen-forming fungal genus, Melanohalea, in the Northern Hemisphere. Divergence times were estimated using both concatenated gene tree and coalescent-based multilocus species tree approaches to assess the temporal context of major radiation events within Melanohalea. In order to complement our understanding of processes impacting genetic differentiation, we also evaluated the effects of Pleistocene glacial cycles on population demographics of distinct Melanohalea lineages, differing in reproductive strategies.ResultsWe found that divergence estimates, from both concatenated gene tree and coalescent-based multilocus species tree approaches, suggest that diversification within Melanohalea occurred predominantly during the Miocene and Pliocene, although estimated of divergence times differed by up to 8.3 million years between the two methods. These results indicate that, in some cases, taxonomically diagnostic characters may be maintained among divergent lineages for millions of years. In other cases, similar phenotypic characters among non-sister taxa, including reproductive strategies, suggest the potential for convergent evolution due to similar selective pressures among distinct lineages. Our analyses provide evidence of population expansions predating the last glacial maximum in the sampled lineages. These results suggest that Pleistocene glaciations were not inherently unfavorable or restrictive for some Melanohalea species, albeit with apparently different demographic histories between sexually and vegetatively reproducing lineages.ConclusionsOur results contribute to the understanding of how major changes during the Miocene and Pliocene have been important in promoting diversification within common lichen-forming fungi in the northern Hemisphere. Additionally, we provide evidence that glacial oscillations have influenced current population structure of broadly distributed lichenized fungal species throughout the Holarctic.

Dataset Information

Characterization of microsatellite loci in the lichen-forming fungus Cetraria aculeata (Parmeliaceae, Ascomycota).

Publications

Characterization of microsatellite loci in the lichen-forming fungus Cetraria aculeata (Parmeliaceae, Ascomycota).

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