Project description:Hybridization between diverged taxa tests the strength of reproductive isolation and can therefore reveal mechanisms of reproductive isolation. However, it remains unclear how consistent reproductive isolation is across species' ranges and to what extent reproductive isolation might remain polymorphic as species diverge. To address these questions, we compared outcomes of hybridization across species pairs of Catostomus fishes in three rivers in the Upper Colorado River basin, where an introduced species, C. commersoni, hybridizes with at least two native species, C. discobolus and C. latipinnis. We observed substantial heterogeneity in outcomes of hybridization, both between species pairs and across geographically separate rivers within each species pair. We also observed hybridization of additional related species with our focal species, suggesting that reproductive isolation in this group involves interactions of multiple evolutionary and ecological factors. These findings suggest that a better understanding of the determinants of variation in reproductive isolation is needed and that studies of reproductive isolation in hybrids should consider how the dynamics and mechanisms of reproductive isolation vary over ecological space and over evolutionary time. Our results also have implications for the conservation and management of native catostomids in the Colorado River basin. Heterogeneity in outcomes of hybridization suggests that the threat posed by hybridization and genetic introgression to the persistence of native species probably varies with extent of reproductive isolation, both across rivers and across species pairs.
Project description:BackgroundPorous species boundaries can be a source of conflicting hypotheses, particularly when coupled with variable data and/or methodological approaches. Their impacts can often be magnified when non-model organisms with complex histories of reticulation are investigated. One such example is the genus Catostomus (Osteichthys, Catostomidae), a freshwater fish clade with conflicting morphological and mitochondrial phylogenies. The former is hypothesized as reflecting the presence of admixed genotypes within morphologically distinct lineages, whereas the latter is interpreted as the presence of distinct morphologies that emerged multiple times through convergent evolution. We tested these hypotheses using multiple methods, to including multispecies coalescent and concatenated approaches. Patterson's D-statistic was applied to resolve potential discord, examine introgression, and test the putative hybrid origin of two species. We also applied naïve binning to explore potential effects of concatenation.ResultsWe employed 14,007 loci generated from ddRAD sequencing of 184 individuals to derive the first highly supported nuclear phylogeny for Catostomus. Our phylogenomic analyses largely agreed with a morphological interpretation,with the exception of the placement of Xyrauchen texanus, which differs from both morphological and mitochondrial phylogenies. Additionally, our evaluation of the putative hybrid species C. columbianus revealed a lack introgression and instead matched the mitochondrial phylogeny. Furthermore, D-statistic tests clarified all discrepancies based solely on mitochondrial data, with agreement among topologies derived from concatenation and multispecies coalescent approaches. Extensive historic introgression was detected across six species-pairs. Potential endemism in the Virgin and Little Colorado Rivers was also apparent, and the former genus Pantosteus was derived as monophyletic, save for C. columbianus.ConclusionsComplex reticulated histories detected herein support the hypothesis that introgression was responsible for conflicts that occurred within the mitochondrial phylogeny, and explains discrepancies found between it and previous morphological phylogenies. Additionally, the hybrid origin of C. columbianus was refuted, but with the caveat that more fine-grain sampling is still needed. Our diverse phylogenomic approaches provided largely concordant results, with naïve binning useful in exploring the single conflict. Considerable diversity was found within Catostomus across southwestern North America, with two drainages [Virgin River (UT) and Little Colorado River (AZ)] reflecting unique composition.
Project description:Interactions between species are central to evolution and ecology, but we do not know enough about how outcomes of interactions between species vary across geographic locations, in heterogeneous environments, or over time. Ecological dimensions of interactions between species are known to vary, but evolutionary interactions such as the establishment and maintenance of reproductive isolation are often assumed to be consistent across instances of an interaction between species. Hybridization among Catostomus fish species occurs over a large and heterogeneous geographic area and across taxa with distinct evolutionary histories, which allows us to assess consistency in species interactions. We analyzed hybridization among six Catostomus species across the Upper Colorado River basin (US mountain west) and found extreme variation in hybridization across locations. Different hybrid crosses were present in different locations, despite similar species assemblages. Within hybrid crosses, hybridization varied from only first generation hybrids to extensive hybridization with backcrossing. Variation in hybridization outcomes might result from uneven fitness of hybrids across locations, polymorphism in genetic incompatibilities, chance, unidentified historical contingencies, or some combination thereof. Our results suggest caution in assuming that one or a few instances of hybridization represent all interactions between the focal species, as species interactions vary substantially across locations.