Project description:Background: The Dobzhansky-Muller (D-M) model of speciation by genic incompatibility is widely accepted as the primary cause of interspecific postzygotic isolation. Since the introduction of this model, there have been theoretical and experimental data supporting the existence of such incompatibilities. However, speciation genes have been largely elusive, with only a handful of candidate genes identified in a few organisms. The Saccharomyces sensu stricto yeasts have small genomes, can be easily cultured, and can mate interspecifically to produce sterile hybrids, are thus an ideal model for studying postzygotic isolation. Among them, only a single D-M pair has been found, between S. bayanus and S. cerevisiae, comprising the mitochondrially targeted product of a nuclear gene, AEP2, and a mitochondrially encoded locus, OLI1, the 5' region of whose transcript is bound by Aep2. Thus far, no D-M pair of nuclear genes has been identified between any sensu stricto yeasts. Methods: We report here the first detailed genome-wide analysis of rare F2 progeny from an otherwise sterile hybrid, and show that no classic D-M pairs of speciation genes exist between the nuclear genomes of the closely related yeasts S. cerevisiae and S. paradoxus. Instead, our analyses suggest that more complex interactions may be responsible for their post-zygotic separation. These interactions most likely involve multiple loci having weak effects, as there were multiple significant pairwise combinations of loci, with no single combination being completely excluded from the viable F2s. Conclusions: The lack of a nuclear encoded classic D-M pair between these two yeasts, yet the existence of multiple loci that may each exert a small effect through complex interactions, suggests that initial speciation events might not always be mediated by D-M pairs. An alternative explanation may be that "death by a thousand cuts" leads to speciation, whereby an accumulation of polymorphisms can lead to an incompatibility between the species "transcriptional and metabolic networks, with no single pair at least initially being responsible for the incompatibility. After such a speciation event, it is possible that one or more D-M pairs might subsequently arise following isolation. Genotypes for hybrids between S. cerevisiae and S. paradoxus. A genotyping experiment design type classifies an individual or group of individuals on the basis of alleles, haplotypes, SNP's.
Project description:This study uses five species of the genus Ecrobia as a model taxon to demonstrate the applicability of proteomic fingerprinting measured by MALDI-TOF MS (matrix-assisted laser/desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry) to cryptic gastropod species and evaluate the discriminative power the proteomic profiles.
Project description:Bacteria and archaea make up most of natural diversity, but the mechanisms that underlie the origin and maintenance of prokaryotic species are poorly understood. We investigated the speciation history of the genus Salmonella, an ecologically diverse bacterial lineage, within which S. enterica subsp. enterica is responsible for important human food-borne infections. We performed a survey of diversity across a large reference collection using multilocus sequence typing, followed by genome sequencing of distinct lineages. We identified 11 distinct phylogroups, 3 of which were previously undescribed. Strains assigned to S. enterica subsp. salamae are polyphyletic, with two distinct lineages that we designate Salamae A and B. Strains of the subspecies houtenae are subdivided into two groups, Houtenae A and B, and are both related to Selander's group VII. A phylogroup we designate VIII was previously unknown. A simple binary fission model of speciation cannot explain observed patterns of sequence diversity. In the recent past, there have been large-scale hybridization events involving an unsampled ancestral lineage and three distantly related lineages of the genus that have given rise to Houtenae A, Houtenae B and VII. We found no evidence for ongoing hybridization in the other eight lineages, but detected subtler signals of ancient recombination events. We are unable to fully resolve the speciation history of the genus, which might have involved additional speciation-by-hybridization or multi-way speciation events. Our results imply that traditional models of speciation by binary fission and divergence are not sufficient to account for Salmonella evolution.
Project description:Understanding the conditions that promote the evolution of reproductive isolation, and thus speciation. Here we empirically test some of the key predictions of speciation theory (Coyne 2004; Kohn 2005) by experimentally evolving the initial stages of speciation in yeast. After allowing replicate populations to adapt to two divergent environments, we observed the consistent, de novo evolution of two forms of postzygotic isolation: reduced rate of mitotic reproduction and reduced efficiency of meiotic reproduction. In general, divergent selection resulted in greater reproductive isolation than parallel selection, as predicted by ecological speciation theory. Our experimental system allowed for the first controlled comparison of the relative importance of ecological and genetic mechanisms of isolation, and the novel ability to quantify the effects of antagonistic epistasis. For mitotic reproduction, hybrid inferiority was conditional upon the selective environments and was both ecological and genetic in basis. In contrast, isolation associated with meiotic reproduction was unconditional and was caused solely by genetic mechanisms. Overall, our results show that adaption to divergent environments promotes the evolution of isolation through antagonistic epistasis, providing evidence of a plausible common avenue to speciation and adaptive radiation in nature (Schluter 2000,2001: Funk 2006) Keywords: Speciation, antagonistic epistasis, divergent adaptation
Project description:Hybrid zones provide unprecedented opportunity for the study of the evolution of reproductive isolation, and the extent of hybridization across individuals and genomes can illuminate the degree of isolation. We examine patterns of interchromosomal linkage disequilibrium (ILD) and the presence of hybridization in Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua, in previously identified hybrid zones in the North Atlantic. Here, previously identified clinal loci were mapped to the cod genome with most (?70%) occurring in or associated with (<5 kb) coding regions representing a diverse array of possible functions and pathways. Despite the observation that clinal loci were distributed across three linkage groups, elevated ILD was observed among all groups of clinal loci and strongest in comparisons involving a region of low recombination along linkage group 7. Evidence of ILD supports a hypothesis of divergence hitchhiking transitioning to genome hitchhiking consistent with reproductive isolation. This hypothesis is supported by Bayesian characterization of hybrid classes present and we find evidence of common F1 hybrids in several regions consistent with frequent interbreeding, yet little evidence of F2 or backcrossed individuals. This work suggests that significant barriers to hybridization and introgression exist among these co-occurring groups of cod either through strong selection against hybrid individuals, or genetic incompatibility and intrinsic barriers to hybridization. In either case, the presence of strong clinal trends, and little gene flow despite extensive hybridization supports a hypothesis of reproductive isolation and cryptic speciation in Atlantic cod. Further work is required to test the degree and nature of reproductive isolation in this species.
Project description:Suppressing spurious cryptic transcription by a repressive intragenic chromatin state featuring trimethylated lysine 36 on histone H3 (H3K36me3) and DNA methylation is critical for maintaining self-renewal capacity in mouse embryonic stem cells. In yeast and nematodes, such cryptic transcription is elevated with age, and reducing the levels of age-associated cryptic transcription extends yeast lifespan. Whether cryptic transcription is also increased during mammalian aging is unknown. We show for the first time an age-associated elevation in cryptic transcription in several stem cell populations, including murine hematopoietic stem cells (mHSCs) and neuronal stem cells (NSCs) and human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs). Using DECAP-seq, we mapped and quantified age-associated cryptic transcription in hMSCs aged in vitro. Regions with significant age-associated cryptic transcription have a unique chromatin signature: decreased H3K36me3 and increased H3K4me1, H3K4me3, and H3K27ac with age. Furthermore, genomic regions undergoing such age-dependent chromatin changes resemble known promoter sequences and are bound by the promoter-associated protein TBP even in young cells. Hence, the more permissive chromatin state at intragenic cryptic promoters likely underlies the increase of cryptic transcription in aged mammalian stem cells.