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Improved Transcriptome Sampling Pinpoints 26 Paleopolyploidy Events In Caryophyllales, Including Two Paleo-Allopolyploidy Events

O_LIStudies of the macroevolutionary legacy of paleopolyploidy are limited by an incomplete sampling of these events across the tree of life. To better locate and understand these events, we need comprehensive taxonomic sampling as well as homology inference methods that accurately reconstruct the frequency and location of gene duplications.\nC_LIO_LIWe assembled a dataset of transcriptomes and genomes from 169 species in Caryophyllales, of which 43 were newly generated for this study, representing one of the densest sampled genomic-scale datasets yet available. We carried out phylogenomic analyses using a modified phylome strategy to reconstruct the species tree. We mapped phylogenetic distribution of paleopolyploidy events by both tree-based and distance-based methods, and explicitly tested scenarios for paleo-allopolyploidy.\nC_LIO_LIWe identified twenty-six paleopolyploidy events distributed throughout Caryophyllales, and using novel techniques inferred two to be paleo-allopolyploidy.\nC_LIO_LIThrough dense phylogenomic sampling, we show the propensity of paleo-polyploidy in the clade Caryophyllales. We also provide the first method for utilizing transcriptome data to detect paleo-allopolyploidy, which is important as it may have different macro-evolutionary implications compared to paleo-autopolyploidy.\nC_LI

evolutionary biology

Bayesian Inference Of Phylogenetic Networks From Bi-allelic Genetic Markers

Phylogenetic networks are rooted, directed, acyclic graphs that model reticulate evolutionary histories. Recently, statistical methods were devised for inferring such networks from either gene tree estimates or the sequence alignments of multiple unlinked loci. Bi-allelic markers, most notably single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs), provide a powerful source of genome-wide data. In a recent paper, a method called SNAPP was introduced for statistical inference of species trees from unlinked bi-allelic markers. The generative process assumed by the method combined both a model of evolution for the bi-allelic markers, as well as the multispecies coalescent. A novel component of the method was a polynomial-time algorithm for exact computation of the likelihood of a fixed species tree via integration over all possible gene trees for a given marker. Here we report on a method for Bayesian inference of phylogenetic networks from bi-allelic markers. Our method significantly extends the algorithm for exact computation of phylogenetic network likelihood via integration over all possible gene trees. Unlike the case of species trees, the algorithm is no longer polynomial-time on all instances of phylogenetic networks. Furthermore, the method utilizes a reversible-jump MCMC technique to sample the posterior of phylogenetic networks given bi-allelic marker data. Our method has a very good performance in terms of accuracy and robustness as we demonstrate on simulated data, as well as a data set of multiple New Zealand species of the plant genus Ourisia(Plantaginaceae). We implemented the method in the publicly available, open-source PhyloNet software package.\n\nAuthor summaryThe availability of genomic data has revolutionized the study of evolutionary histories and phylogeny inference. Inferring evolutionary histories from genomic data requires, in most cases, accounting for the fact that different genomic regions could have evolutionary histories that differ from each other as well as from that of the species from which the genomes were sampled. In this paper, we introduce a method for inferring evolutionary histories while accounting for two processes that could give rise to such differences across the genomes, namely incomplete lineage sorting and hybridization. We introduce a novel algorithm for computing the likelihood of phylogenetic networks from bi-allelic genetic markers and use it in a Bayesian inference method. Analyses of synthetic and empirical data sets show a very good performance of the method in terms of the estimates it obtains.

evolutionary biology

Evolutionary Isolation And Phylogenetic Diversity Loss Under Random Extinction Events

The extinction of species at the present leads to the loss of phylogenetic diversity (PD) from the evolutionary tree in which these species lie. Prior to extinction, the total PD present can be divided up among the species in various ways using measures of evolutionary isolation (such as fair proportion and equal splits). However, the loss of PD when certain combinations of species become extinct can be either larger or smaller than the cumulative loss of the isolation values associated with the extinct species. In this paper, we show that for trees generated under neutral evolutionary models, the loss of PD under a null model of random extinction at the present can be predicted from the loss of the cumulative isolation values, by applying a non-linear transformation that is independent of the tree. Moreover, the error in the prediction provably converges to zero as the size of the tree grows, with simulations showing good agreement even for moderate sized trees (n = 64).

evolutionary biology

Phylogenomic Species Delimitation In Microendemic Frogs Of The Brazilian Atlantic Forest

The advent of next-generation sequencing allows researchers to use large-scale datasets for species delimitation analyses, yet one can envision an inflection point where the added accuracy of including more loci does not offset the increased computational burden. One alternative to including all loci could be to prioritize the analysis of loci for which there is an expectation of high informativeness, such as those with higher numbers of parsimony-informative sites. Here, we explore the issue of species delimitation and locus selection with species from two anuran genera: Melanophryniscus (Bufonidae) and Brachycephalus (Brachycephalidae). Montane species in these genera have been isolated in sky islands across the southern Brazilian Atlantic Forest, which led to the formation of a number of microendemic species. To delimit species, we obtained genetic data using target enrichment of ultraconserved elements from 32 populations (13 for Melanophryniscus and 19 for Brachycephalus), and we were able to create datasets that included over 800 loci with no missing data. We ranked loci according to their corresponding number of parsimony-informative sites, and we performed species delimitation analyses using BPP in each genus based on the top 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320, and 640 loci. We also conducted several additional analyses using 10 randomly sampled datasets containing the same numbers of loci to discriminate the relative contribution of increasing the number of loci from prioritizing those with higher informativeness. We identified three types of node: nodes with either consistently high or low support regardless of the number of loci or their informativeness, and nodes that were initially poorly supported, but their support became stronger with more data. Adding more loci had a stronger impact on model support than prioritizing loci for their informativeness, but this effect was less apparent in datasets with more than 160 loci. When viewed across all sensitivity analyses, our results suggest that the current species richness in both genera might have been underestimated. In addition, our results provide useful guidelines to the use of different sampling strategies to carry out species delimitation with phylogenomic datasets.

evolutionary biology

Whole Genome Sequences Of Malawi Cichlids Reveal Multiple Radiations Interconnected By Gene Flow

The hundreds of cichlid fish species in Lake Malawi constitute the most extensive recent vertebrate adaptive radiation. Here we characterize its genomic diversity by sequencing 134 individuals covering 73 species across all major lineages. Average sequence divergence between species pairs is only 0.1-0.25%. These divergence values overlap diversity within species, with 82% of heterozygosity shared between species. Phylogenetic analyses suggest that diversification initially proceeded by serial branching from a generalist Astatotilapia-like ancestor. However, no single species tree adequately represents all species relationships, with evidence for substantial gene flow at multiple times. Common signatures of selection on visual and oxygen transport genes shared by distantly related deep water species point to both adaptive introgression and independent selection. These findings enhance our understanding of genomic processes underlying rapid species diversification, and provide a platform for future genetic analysis of the Malawi radiation.\n\nOne Sentence Summary: The genomes of 73 cichlid fish species from Lake Malawi uncover evolutionary processes underlying a large adaptive evolutionary radiation.

evolutionary biology

To Beard, Or Not To Beard: Linking Sexual Selection On Masculinity, Embryonic Neural Crest Cells, And Human Self-Domestication

ObjectivesPre-historic decline in human craniofacial masculinity has been proposed as evidence of selection for elevated sociability and a process of human self-domestication thought to have promoted complex capacities including language, culture, and cumulative technological development. This follows experimental observation of similar changes in non-human animals under selection for reduced aggression. Two distinct domestication hypotheses posit developmental explanations, involving hypoplasia of embryonic neural crest cells (NCCs), and declining androgen influence, respectively. Here, I assess the operation and potential interactions between these two mechanisms and consider their role in enhanced human adaptation to a cooperative sociocultural niche. MethodsI provide a review and synthesis of related literature with a focus on physiological mechanisms effecting domesticated reductions in masculinity and sexual dimorphism. Further, I examine pre-historic modes of socio-sexual selection likely to drive human self-domestication via reduced aggression and masculinity. ResultsI find pluripotent NCCs provide progenitors for a wide range of vertebrate masculine features, acting as regular targets for sexually driven evolutionary change; suggesting domesticated hypoplasia of NCC-derived tissues would be sufficient to explain declines in masculine traits and features. However, lineage specific androgen receptor variability likely moderates these NCC-based effects. ConclusionsThese findings extend theorised mechanisms driving noted physiological, morphological, and behavioural changes thought to indicate enhanced sociability and human and self-domestication. Multiple current explanations for human sociability are consistent with physiological domestication under socio-sexual selection favouring dampened masculine physiology and behaviour as adaptations to an enhanced sociocultural niche. The analysis highlights multiple avenues for further investigation.

evolutionary biology

Evaluating Strategies For Reversing CRISPR-Cas9 Gene Drives

A gene drive biases inheritance of a gene so that it increases in frequency within a population even when the gene confers no fitness benefit. There has been renewed interest in environmental releases of engineered gene drives due to recent proof of principle experiments with the CRISPR-Cas9 system as a drive mechanism. Release of modified organisms, however, is controversial, especially when the drive mechanism could theoretically alter all individuals of a species. Thus, it is desirable to have countermeasures to reverse a drive if a problem arises. Several genetic mechanisms for limiting or eliminating gene drives have been proposed and/or developed, including synthetic resistance, reversal drives, and immunizing reversal drives. While predictions about efficacy of these mechanisms have been optimistic, we lack detailed analyses of their expected dynamics. We develop a discrete time model for population genetics of a drive and proposed genetic countermeasures. Efficacy of drive reversal varies between countermeasures. For some parameter values, the model predicts unexpected behavior including polymorphic equilibria and oscillatory dynamics. The timing and number of released individuals containing a genetic countermeasure can substantially impact outcomes. The choice among countermeasures by researchers and regulators will depend on specific goals and population parameters of target populations.

evolutionary biology

Evolutionary Dynamics Of Incubation Periods

The incubation period of a disease is the time between an initiating pathologic event and the onset of symptoms1. For typhoid fever2,3, polio4, measles5, leukemia6 and many other diseases7-10, the incubation period is highly variable. Some affected people take much longer than average to show symptoms, leading to a distribution of incubation periods that is right skewed and often approximately lognormal8-10. Although this statistical pattern was discovered more than sixty years ago8, it remains an open question to explain its ubiquity11. Here we propose an explanation based on evolutionary dynamics on graphs12-18. For simple models of a mutant or pathogen invading a network-structured population of healthy cells, we show that skewed distributions of incubation periods emerge for a wide range of assumptions about invader fitness, competition dynamics, and network structure. The skewness stems from stochastic mechanisms associated with two classic problems in probability theory: the coupon collector and the random walk19,20. Unlike previous explanations11,21 that rely crucially on heterogeneity, our results hold even for homogeneous populations. Thus, we predict that two equally healthy individuals subjected to equal doses of equally pathogenic agents may, by chance alone, show remarkably different time courses of disease.

evolutionary biology

R2s for Correlated Data: Phylogenetic Models, LMMs, and GLMMs

Many researchers want to report an R2 to measure the variance explained by a model. When the model includes correlation among data, such as phylogenetic models and mixed models, defining an R2 faces two conceptual problems. (i) It is unclear how to measure the variance explained by predictor (independent) variables when the model contains covariances. (ii) Researchers may want the R2 to include the variance explained by the covariances by asking questions such as \"How much of the variance is explained by phylogeny?\" Here, I investigate three R2s for phylogenetic and mixed models. A least-squares R2ls is an extension of the ordinary least-squares R2 that weights residuals by variances and covariances estimated by the model; it is closely related to R2glmm proposed by Nakagawa & Schielzeth (2013). The conditional expectation R2ce is based on \"predicting\" each residual from the remaining residuals of the fitted model. The likelihood ratio R2lr was first used by Cragg & Uhler (1970) for logistic regression, and here is used with the standardization proposed by Nagelkerke (1991). These three R2s are formulated as partial R2s, making it possible to compare the contributions of mean components (regression coefficients in phylogenetic models and fixed effects in mixed models) and variance components (phylogenetic correlations and random effects) to the fit of models. The properties of the R2s for phylogenetic models were assessed using simulations for continuous and binary response data (phylogenetic generalized least squares and phylogenetic logistic regression). Because the R2s are designed broadly for any model for correlated data, the R2s were also compared for LMMs and GLMMs. R2ls, R2ce, and R2lr all have good performance, and each has advantages and disadvantages for different applications. These R2s are computed in the R package rr2 (https://github.com/arives/rr2). [Binomial regression, coefficient of determination, non-independent residuals, phylogenetic model, pseudo-likelihood]

evolutionary biology

Strategies For Partitioning Clock Models In Phylogenomic Dating: Application To The Angiosperm Evolutionary Timescale

Evolutionary timescales can be inferred from molecular sequence data using a Bayesian phylogenetic approach. In these methods, the molecular clock is often calibrated using fossil data. The uncertainty in these fossil calibrations is important because it determines the limiting posterior distribution for divergence-time estimates as the sequence length tends to infinity. Here we investigate how the accuracy and precision of Bayesian divergence-time estimates improve with the increased clock-partitioning of genome-scale data into clock-subsets. We focus on a data set comprising plastome-scale sequences of 52 angiosperm taxa. There was little difference among the Bayesian date estimates whether we chose clock-subsets based on patterns of among-lineage rate heterogeneity or relative rates across genes, or by random assignment. Increasing the degree of clock-partitioning usually led to an improvement in the precision of divergence-time estimates, but this increase was asymptotic to a limit presumably imposed by fossil calibrations. Our clock-partitioning approaches yielded highly precise age estimates for several key nodes in the angiosperm phylogeny. For example, when partitioning the data into 20 clock-subsets based on patterns of among-lineage rate heterogeneity, we inferred crown angiosperms to have arisen 198-178 Ma. This demonstrates that judicious clock-partitioning can improve the precision of molecular dating based on phylogenomic data, but the meaning of this increased precision should be considered critically.

evolutionary biology

Pathogen Dependent Phenotypic But No Genetic Correlation Between Sexual Activity And Immunity In Male Drosophila melanogaster Subjected To Differential Sexual Selection

The theory of trade-off suggest that limited resources should lead to trade-off in resource intensive traits such as immunity related and sexually selected traits in males. Alternatively, sexual exaggerations can also act as an honest indicator of underlying immunocompetence, leading to positive correlations between these traits. Several studies have addressed this question using experimental evolution. However, they have rarely used ecologically relevant pathogens and fitness measurement (e.g., measuring post-infection survivorship) to find correlations between sexual selection and immunity. Here we attempt to address this caveat by evolving populations of Drosophila melanogaster under differential sexual selection. After more than hundred generations, we infected virgin and mated males from each population with three pathogenic bacteria: Pseudomonas entomophila (Pe), Staphylococcus succinus (Ss) and Providentia rettgeri (Pr). Fitness was measured as either post-infection survivorship (Pe and Ss) or bacterial clearance ability (Pr). Contrary to expectations, sexual selection had no evolutionary effect on male fitness against any of the pathogens. Moreover, mating had a beneficial effect against Pe and Pr, but no effect against Ss, suggesting pathogen specific phenotypic correlations between mating and immunity. Following these results, we discuss the significance of using ecologically relevant pathogens and quantifying host fitness while studying sexual selection-immunity correlations.

evolutionary biology

Plasticity Of Plant Defense And Its Evolutionary Implications In Wild Populations Of Boechera stricta

Phenotypic plasticity is thought to impact evolutionary trajectories by shifting trait values in a direction that is either favored by natural selection (\"adaptive plasticity\") or disfavored (\"nonadaptive\" plasticity). However, it is unclear how commonly each of these types of plasticity occurs in natural populations. To answer this question, we measured glucosinolate defensive chemistry and reproductive fitness in over 1,500 individuals of the wild perennial mustard Boechera stricta, planted in four common gardens across central Idaho, USA. Glucosinolate profiles--including total glucosinolate quantity as well as the relative abundances and overall diversity of different compounds--were strongly plastic both among habitats and within habitats. Patterns of glucosinolate plasticity varied greatly among genotypes. More often than expected by chance, glucosinolate profiles shifted in a direction that matched the direction of natural selection, indicating that plasticity among habitats tended to increase relative fitness. In contrast, we found no evidence for within-habitat selection on glucosinolate reaction norm slopes (i.e., plasticity along a continuous environmental gradient). Together, our results indicate that glucosinolate plasticity may improve the ability of B. stricta populations to persist after migration to new habitats.

evolutionary biology

Sexual Imprinting And Speciation In Two Peromyscus Species

Sexual isolation, a reproductive barrier, can prevent interbreeding between diverging populations or species. Sexual isolation can have a clear genetic basis; however, it may also result from learned mate preferences that form via sexual imprinting. Here, we demonstrate that two sympatric species of mice--the white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) and its sister species, the cotton mouse (P. gossypinus)--hybridize only rarely in the wild despite co-occurrence in the same habitat and lack of any measurable intrinsic postzygotic barriers in laboratory crosses. We present evidence that strong conspecific mating preferences in each species result in significant sexual isolation. We find that these preferences are learned in at least one species: P. gossypinus sexually imprints on its parents, but in P. leucopus, additional factors influence mating preferences. Our study demonstrates that sexual imprinting contributes to reproductive isolation that reduces hybridization between otherwise interfertile species, supporting the role for learning in mammalian speciation.

evolutionary biology

Ancient genomes from southern Africa pushes modern human divergence beyond 260,000 years ago

Southern Africa is consistently placed as one of the potential regions for the evolution of Homo sapiens. To examine the regions human prehistory prior to the arrival of migrants from East and West Africa or Eurasia in the last 1,700 years, we generated and analyzed genome sequence data from seven ancient individuals from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Three Stone Age hunter-gatherers date to ~2,000 years ago, and we show that they were related to current-day southern San groups such as the Karretjie People. Four Iron Age farmers (300-500 years old) have genetic signatures similar to present day Bantu-speakers. The genome sequence (13x coverage) of a juvenile boy from Ballito Bay, who lived ~2,000 years ago, demonstrates that southern African Stone Age hunter-gatherers were not impacted by recent admixture; however, we estimate that all modern-day Khoekhoe and San groups have been influenced by 9-22% genetic admixture from East African/Eurasian pastoralist groups arriving >1,000 years ago, including the Ju| hoansi San, previously thought to have very low levels of admixture. Using traditional and new approaches, we estimate the population divergence time between the Ballito Bay boy and other groups to beyond 260,000 years ago. These estimates dramatically increases the deepest divergence amongst modern humans, coincide with the onset of the Middle Stone Age in sub-Saharan Africa, and coincide with anatomical developments of archaic humans into modern humans as represented in the local fossil record. Cumulatively, cross-disciplinary records increasingly point to southern Africa as a potential (not necessarily exclusive) hot spot for the evolution of our species.

evolutionary biology

On The Number Of Siblings And p-th Cousins In A Large Population Sample

1.The number of individuals in a random sample with close relatives in the sample is a quantity of interest when designing Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS) and other cohort based genetic, and non-genetic, studies. In this paper, we develop expressions for the distribution and expectation of the number of p-th cousins in a sample from a population of size N under two diploid Wright-Fisher models. We also develop simple asymptotic expressions for large values of N. For example, the expected proportion of individuals with at least one p-th cousin in a sample of K individuals, for a diploid dioecious Wright-Fisher model, is approximately 1 - e-(22p-1)K/N. Our results show that a substantial fraction of individuals in the sample will have at least a second cousin if the sampling fraction (K/N) is on the order of 10-2. This confirms that, for large cohort samples, relatedness among individuals cannot easily be ignored.

evolutionary biology

Genetic Drift and Selection in Many-Allele Range Expansions

We experimentally and numerically investigate the evolutionary dynamics of four competing strains of E. coli with differing expansion velocities in radially expanding colonies. We compare experimental measurements of the average fraction, correlation functions between strains, and the relative rates of genetic domain wall annihilations and coalescences to simulations modeling the population as a one-dimensional ring of annihilating and coalescing random walkers with deterministic biases due to selection. The simulations reveal that the evolutionary dynamics can be collapsed onto master curves governed by three essential parameters: (1) an expansion length beyond which selection dominates over genetic drift; (2) a characteristic angular correlation describing the size of genetic domains; and (3) a dimensionless constant quantifying the interplay between a colonys curvature at the frontier and its selection length scale. We measure these parameters with a new technique that precisely measures small selective differences between spatially competing strains and show that our simulations accurately predict the dynamics with no additional fitting. Our results suggest that that the random walk model can act as a useful predictive tool when describing the evolutionary dynamics of range expansions composed of an arbitrary number of competing alleles with different fitnesses.\n\nAuthor summaryPopulation expansions occur naturally during the spread of invasive species and have played a role in our evolutionary history when many of our ancestors expanded out of Africa. We use a colony of bacteria expanding into unoccupied, nutrient-rich territory on an agar plate as a model system to explore how an expanding populations spatial structure impacts its evolutionary dynamics. Spatial structure is present in expanding microbial colonies because daughter cells migrate only a small distance away from their mothers each generation. Generally, the constituents of expansions occurring in nature and in the lab have different genetic compositions (genotypes, or alleles if a single gene differs), each instilling different fitnesses, which compete to proliferate at the frontier. Here, we show that a random-walk model can accurately predict the dynamics of four expanding strains of E. coli with different fitnesses; each strain represents a competing allele. Our results can be extended to describe any number of competing genotypes with different fitnesses in a naturally occurring expansions. Our model can also be used to precisely measure small selective differences between spatially competing genotypes in controlled laboratory settings.

evolutionary biology

The Gene Regulatory Landscape of Local Adaptation

Local adaptation is a key driver of ecological specialization and the formation of new species. Despite its importance, the evolution of gene regulatory divergence among locally-adapted populations is poorly understood, especially how that divergence manifests in nature. Here, we evaluate gene expression divergence and allele-specific gene expression responses for locally-adapted coastal perennial and inland annual accessions of the yellow monkeyflower, Mimulus guttatus, in a field reciprocal transplant experiment. Overall, 6765 (73%) of surveyed genes were differentially expressed between coastal and inland habitats, while 7213 (77%) were differentially expressed between the coastal perennial and inland annual accessions. Further, 18% of transcripts had significant genotype x site (GxE) effects. Habitat-specific differential expression was found for 62% of the GxE transcripts (differential expression in one habitat, but not the other), while only 94 ([~]5%) GxE transcripts had crossing reaction norms. Cis-regulatory variation was pervasive, affecting 79% (5532) of differentially expressed genes. We detected trans effects for 52% (3611) of differentially expressed genes. Consistent with the supergene hypothesis of chromosome inversion evolution, a locally adaptive inversion was enriched for cis-regulatory divergence. These results provide multiple new insights into the evolution of transcriptome-wide gene regulatory divergence and plasticity among locally adapted populations.

evolutionary biology

The consequences of polyandry for sibship structures, distributions of relationships and relatedness, and potential for inbreeding in a wild population

The evolutionary benefits of simultaneous polyandry (female multiple mating within a single reproductive event) remain elusive. One potential benefit could arise if polyandry alters sibship structures and consequent relationships and relatedness among females descendants, and thereby intrinsically reduces future inbreeding risk (the indirect inbreeding avoidance hypothesis). However such effects have not been quantified in naturally complex reproductive systems that also encompass iteroparity, overlapping generations, sequential polyandry, and polygyny. We used long-term social and genetic pedigree data from song sparrows (Melospiza melodia) to quantify cross-generational consequences of simultaneous polyandry for offspring sibship structures and distributions of relationships and relatedness among possible mates. Simultaneous polyandry decreased full-sibships and increased half-sibships on average, but such effects varied among females and were smaller than would occur in the absence of sequential polyandry or polygyny. Further, while simultaneous polyandry decreased the overall frequencies of possible matings among adult full-sibs, it increased the frequencies of possible matings among adult half-sibs and more distant relatives. These results imply that the intrinsic consequences of simultaneous polyandry for inbreeding risk could cause weak indirect selection on polyandry, but the magnitude and direction of such effects will depend on complex interactions with other mating system components and the form of inbreeding depression.

evolutionary biology

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