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Association of putatively adaptive genetic variation with climatic variables differs between a parasite and its host.

ABSTRACT: Parasitism is a pervasive phenomenon in nature with the relationship between species driving evolution in both parasite and host. Due to their host-dependent lifestyle, parasites may adapt to the abiotic environment in ways that differ from their hosts or from free-living relatives; yet rarely has this been assessed. Here, we test two competing hypotheses related to whether putatively adaptive genetic variation in a specialist mistletoe associates with the same, or different, climatic variables as its host species. We sampled 11 populations of the specialist mistletoe Amyema gibberula var. tatei (n = 154) and 10 populations of its associated host Hakea recurva subsp. recurva (n = 160). Reduced-representation sequencing was used to obtain genome-wide markers and putatively adaptive variation detected using genome scan methods. Climate associations were identified using generalized dissimilarity modelling, and these were mapped geographically to visualize the spatial patterns of genetic composition. Our results supported the hypothesis of parasites and host species responding differently to climatic variables. Temperature was relatively more important in predicting allelic turnover in the specialist mistletoe while precipitation was more important for the host. This suggests that parasitic plants and host species may respond differently to selective pressures, potentially as a result of differing nutrient acquisition strategies. Specifically, mistletoes acquire water from hosts (rather than the abiotic environment), which may provide a buffer to precipitation as a selective pressure. This work deepens and complements the physiological and other ecological studies of adaptation and provides a window into the evolutionary processes that underlie previously observed phenomena. Applying these methods to a comparative study in a host-parasite system has also highlighted factors that affect the study of selection pressure on nonmodel organisms, such as differing adaptation rates and lack of reference genomes.

SUBMITTER: Walters SJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8288004 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Backgrounds and aimsEchinacea angustifolia is a widespread species distributed throughout the Great Plains region of North America. Genetic differentiation among populations was investigated along a 1500 km north-south climatic gradient in North America, a region with no major geographical barriers. The objective of the study was to determine if genetic differentiation of populations could be explained by an isolation-by-distance model or by associations with climatic parameters known to affect plant growth and survival.MethodsHistorical climatic data were used to define the nature of the climatic gradient and AFLP markers were used to establish patterns of population genetic differentiation among ten Echinacea populations collected from North Dakota to Oklahoma. A total of 1290 fragments were scored using six EcoRI/MseI and three PstI/MseI primer combinations. Assessment of the correlation between climatic, genetic and geographic distances was assessed by Mantel and partial Mantel tests.Key resultsPstI/MseI combinations produced significantly fewer fragments, but a larger percentage was unique compared with EcoRI/MseI markers. Using estimates of F(ST), populations in Oklahoma and southern Kansas were identified as the most divergent from the other populations. Both the neighbour-joining tree and principal co-ordinate analysis clustered the populations in a north-south spatial orientation. About 60% of the genetic variation was found within populations, 20% among populations and the remaining 20% was partitioned among groups that were defined by the topology of the neighbour-joining tree. Significant support was found for the isolation-by-distance model independent of the effects of annual mean precipitation, but not from annual mean temperature and freeze-free days.ConclusionsEchinacea angustifolia populations exhibit genetic divergence along a north-south climatic gradient. The data support an isolation-by-distance restriction in gene flow that is independent of annual mean precipitation.

Project description:Globally, since the end of December 2019, coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has been recognized as a severe infectious disease. Therefore, this study has been attempted to examine the linkage between climatic variables and COVID-19 particularly in National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT of Delhi), India. For this, daily data of COVID-19 has been used for the period March 14 to June 11, 2020, (90 days). Eight climatic variables such as maximum, minimum and mean temperature (°C), relative humidity (%), bright sunshine hours, wind speed (km/h), evaporation (mm), and rainfall (mm) have been analyzed in relation to COVID-19. To study the relationship among different climatic variables and COVID-19 spread, Karl Pearson’s correlation analysis has been performed. The Mann–Kendall method and Sen’s slope estimator have been used to detect the direction and magnitude of COVID-19 trends, respectively. The results have shown that out of eight selected climatic variables, six variables, viz. maximum temperature, minimum temperature, mean temperature, relative humidity, evaporation, and wind speed are positively associated with coronavirus disease cases (statistically significant at 95 and 99% confidence levels). No association of coronavirus disease has been found with bright sunshine hours and rainfall. Besides, COVID-19 cases and deaths have shown increasing trends, significant at 99% confidence level. The results of this study suggest that climatic conditions in NCT of Delhi are favorable for COVID-19 and the disease may spread further with the increasing temperature, relative humidity, evaporation and wind speed. This is the only study which has presented the analysis of COVID-19 spread in relation to several climatic variables for the most densely populated and rapidly growing city of India. Thus, considering the results obtained, effective policies and actions are necessary especially by identifying the areas where the spread rate is increasing rapidly in this megacity. The prevention and protection measures should be adopted aiming at to reduce the further transmission of disease in the city.

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Association of putatively adaptive genetic variation with climatic variables differs between a parasite and its host.

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