Islands and hybrid zones: combining the knowledge from “Natural Laboratories” to explain phylogeographic patterns of the European brown hare
Abstract Background The aim of the study was to use hybrid populations as well as island populations of the European brown hare (Lepus europaeus) to explore the effect of evolutionary events, such as the post-deglaciation translocations, spontaneous and human-mediated, local adaptation and the genet...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
BMC
2019-01-01
|
| Series: | BMC Evolutionary Biology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12862-019-1354-y |
| _version_ | 1819031759731294208 |
|---|---|
| author | Themistoklis Giannoulis Dimitrios Plageras Costas Stamatis Eleni Chatzivagia Andreas Tsipourlianos Periklis Birtsas Charalambos Billinis Franz Suchentrunk Zissis Mamuris |
| author_facet | Themistoklis Giannoulis Dimitrios Plageras Costas Stamatis Eleni Chatzivagia Andreas Tsipourlianos Periklis Birtsas Charalambos Billinis Franz Suchentrunk Zissis Mamuris |
| author_sort | Themistoklis Giannoulis |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background The aim of the study was to use hybrid populations as well as island populations of the European brown hare (Lepus europaeus) to explore the effect of evolutionary events, such as the post-deglaciation translocations, spontaneous and human-mediated, local adaptation and the genetic drift in the shaping of the phylogeographic patterns of the species. For this purpose, we used molecular markers, both nuclear and mitochondrial, that are indicative for local adaptation as well as neutral markers to elucidate the patterns of population differentiation based on geographic isolation and the clade of origin. To broaden our analysis, we included data from our previous studies concerning mainland populations, to explore the genetic differentiation in the base of the geographic origin (mainland/island) of the populations. Results Our results suggest that local adaptation shapes the differentiation in both genomes, favoring specific alleles in nuclear genes (e.g. DQA) or haplotypes in mtDNA (e.g. Control Region, CR). mtDNA variation was found to be in a higher level and was able to give a phylogeographic signal for the populations. Furthermore, the degree of variation was influenced not only by the geographic origin, but also by the clade of origin, since specific island populations of Anatolian origin showed a greater degree of variation compared to specific mainland populations of the European clade. Concerning the hybrid population, we confirmed the existence of both clades in the territory and we provided a possible explanation for the lack of introgression between the clades. Conclusion Our results indicate that the Quaternary’s climatic oscillations played a major role in the shaping of the phylogeographic patterns of the species, by isolating populations in the distinct refugia, where they adapted and differentiate in allopatry, leading to genome incompatibilities observed nowadays. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T06:51:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f61f3e6bcc7149a2ba9a6f2acbf6191f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1471-2148 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T06:51:09Z |
| publishDate | 2019-01-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Evolutionary Biology |
| spelling | doaj.art-f61f3e6bcc7149a2ba9a6f2acbf6191f2022-12-21T19:12:29ZengBMCBMC Evolutionary Biology1471-21482019-01-0119111710.1186/s12862-019-1354-yIslands and hybrid zones: combining the knowledge from “Natural Laboratories” to explain phylogeographic patterns of the European brown hareThemistoklis Giannoulis0Dimitrios Plageras1Costas Stamatis2Eleni Chatzivagia3Andreas Tsipourlianos4Periklis Birtsas5Charalambos Billinis6Franz Suchentrunk7Zissis Mamuris8Laboratory of Genetics, Comparative and Evolutionary Biology, University of ThessalyLaboratory of Genetics, Comparative and Evolutionary Biology, University of ThessalyLaboratory of Genetics, Comparative and Evolutionary Biology, University of ThessalyLaboratory of Genetics, Comparative and Evolutionary Biology, University of ThessalyLaboratory of Genetics, Comparative and Evolutionary Biology, University of ThessalyDepartment of Forestry and Natural Environment Administration, TEI of ThessalyFaculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of ThessalyResearch Institute of Wildlife Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine ViennaLaboratory of Genetics, Comparative and Evolutionary Biology, University of ThessalyAbstract Background The aim of the study was to use hybrid populations as well as island populations of the European brown hare (Lepus europaeus) to explore the effect of evolutionary events, such as the post-deglaciation translocations, spontaneous and human-mediated, local adaptation and the genetic drift in the shaping of the phylogeographic patterns of the species. For this purpose, we used molecular markers, both nuclear and mitochondrial, that are indicative for local adaptation as well as neutral markers to elucidate the patterns of population differentiation based on geographic isolation and the clade of origin. To broaden our analysis, we included data from our previous studies concerning mainland populations, to explore the genetic differentiation in the base of the geographic origin (mainland/island) of the populations. Results Our results suggest that local adaptation shapes the differentiation in both genomes, favoring specific alleles in nuclear genes (e.g. DQA) or haplotypes in mtDNA (e.g. Control Region, CR). mtDNA variation was found to be in a higher level and was able to give a phylogeographic signal for the populations. Furthermore, the degree of variation was influenced not only by the geographic origin, but also by the clade of origin, since specific island populations of Anatolian origin showed a greater degree of variation compared to specific mainland populations of the European clade. Concerning the hybrid population, we confirmed the existence of both clades in the territory and we provided a possible explanation for the lack of introgression between the clades. Conclusion Our results indicate that the Quaternary’s climatic oscillations played a major role in the shaping of the phylogeographic patterns of the species, by isolating populations in the distinct refugia, where they adapted and differentiate in allopatry, leading to genome incompatibilities observed nowadays.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12862-019-1354-yAdaptive variationNeutral lociBrown harePhylogeography |
| spellingShingle | Themistoklis Giannoulis Dimitrios Plageras Costas Stamatis Eleni Chatzivagia Andreas Tsipourlianos Periklis Birtsas Charalambos Billinis Franz Suchentrunk Zissis Mamuris Islands and hybrid zones: combining the knowledge from “Natural Laboratories” to explain phylogeographic patterns of the European brown hare BMC Evolutionary Biology Adaptive variation Neutral loci Brown hare Phylogeography |
| title | Islands and hybrid zones: combining the knowledge from “Natural Laboratories” to explain phylogeographic patterns of the European brown hare |
| title_full | Islands and hybrid zones: combining the knowledge from “Natural Laboratories” to explain phylogeographic patterns of the European brown hare |
| title_fullStr | Islands and hybrid zones: combining the knowledge from “Natural Laboratories” to explain phylogeographic patterns of the European brown hare |
| title_full_unstemmed | Islands and hybrid zones: combining the knowledge from “Natural Laboratories” to explain phylogeographic patterns of the European brown hare |
| title_short | Islands and hybrid zones: combining the knowledge from “Natural Laboratories” to explain phylogeographic patterns of the European brown hare |
| title_sort | islands and hybrid zones combining the knowledge from natural laboratories to explain phylogeographic patterns of the european brown hare |
| topic | Adaptive variation Neutral loci Brown hare Phylogeography |
| url | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12862-019-1354-y |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT themistoklisgiannoulis islandsandhybridzonescombiningtheknowledgefromnaturallaboratoriestoexplainphylogeographicpatternsoftheeuropeanbrownhare AT dimitriosplageras islandsandhybridzonescombiningtheknowledgefromnaturallaboratoriestoexplainphylogeographicpatternsoftheeuropeanbrownhare AT costasstamatis islandsandhybridzonescombiningtheknowledgefromnaturallaboratoriestoexplainphylogeographicpatternsoftheeuropeanbrownhare AT elenichatzivagia islandsandhybridzonescombiningtheknowledgefromnaturallaboratoriestoexplainphylogeographicpatternsoftheeuropeanbrownhare AT andreastsipourlianos islandsandhybridzonescombiningtheknowledgefromnaturallaboratoriestoexplainphylogeographicpatternsoftheeuropeanbrownhare AT periklisbirtsas islandsandhybridzonescombiningtheknowledgefromnaturallaboratoriestoexplainphylogeographicpatternsoftheeuropeanbrownhare AT charalambosbillinis islandsandhybridzonescombiningtheknowledgefromnaturallaboratoriestoexplainphylogeographicpatternsoftheeuropeanbrownhare AT franzsuchentrunk islandsandhybridzonescombiningtheknowledgefromnaturallaboratoriestoexplainphylogeographicpatternsoftheeuropeanbrownhare AT zissismamuris islandsandhybridzonescombiningtheknowledgefromnaturallaboratoriestoexplainphylogeographicpatternsoftheeuropeanbrownhare |