HEИндивидуална стипендия2022–2024

HybridSpecLBA · Does hybridization facilitate explosive speciation of Lake Baikal amphipods?

„Хоризонт Европа“ — Действия „Мария Склодовска-Кюри“

Период: 2022-09-01 → 2024-08-31
Финансиране от ЕС: 175 920 €
Участници: 1
Схема: HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF

Линиите свързват координатора с партньорите.

Накратко на български

Хибридизацията при амфиподите в езерото Байкал се анализира чрез генетични данни, за да се разбере как са възникнали над 340 вида. Това помага да се разберат механизмите за създаване на биоразнообразието и причините за бързата еволюция на някои видове.

Този кратък обзор е генериран от изкуствен интелект

Кратко обяснение, генерирано от езиков модел по текста на CORDIS. Оригиналът е по-долу.

Резултати накратко

Does hybridization facilitate explosive speciation of Lake Baikal amphipods?

What defines the rate of adaptive evolution and speciation? Why do some lineages exist for millions of years with almost no change, like Coelacanth, while others diversify into hundreds of new species in a few hundred thousand years - like famous cichlid fish from African great lakes? This long-debated problem hides the key to understanding mechanisms of biodiversity origin on the Earth. In this project we investigate the origin of adaptive radiation of amphipods in Lake Baikal. It has brought forward more than 340 species (20% of the world’s freshwater amphipods), making it one of the largest species flocks after the African cichlid radiations, and one of the only large radiations in temperate climates. We aim to understand why Lake Baikal amphipods underwent explosive speciation, while the other seven comparable ancient great lakes are inhabited by less than a few dozens of species. The two strongest limiting factors of speciation are the lack of genetic variation, (it is needed for building new adaptations) and absence of reproductive isolation (which is needed for species separation). Hybridization provides a solution for both problems, and thus is one of the best candidates for the role of speciation catalyzer. In this project we use transcriptomic and genomic datasets to estimate the role of hybridization in formation of Lake Baikal Amphipoda species flock.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз

Цел на проекта

The adaptive radiation of amphipods in Lake Baikal has brought forward more than 340 species (20% of the world’s freshwater amphipods), making it one of the largest species flocks after the famous African cichlid radiations, and one of the only large radiations in temperate climates. Despite this iconic status the radiation has not yet been subject to detailed genomic investigation. During my PhD I was able to demonstrate excessive amounts of parallel adaptation among the transcriptomes of species of this adaptive radiation. In this project, I will use genomic approaches to test whether the previous results could be explained by hybridisation and adaptive introgression. These processes have been shown to occur in other adaptive radiations, but their functional role in rapid diversification is still debated. My preliminary results indicate that hybridization between two independent lineages of Baikalian amphipods emerged in the period when fast speciation started. Furthermore, I found intriguing signals of positive selection on introgressed loci.Additional data and specific methodology developed in this project will enable me to disentangle the processes governing speciation in this group. Profiting from strong relevant experience of the host laboratory I will re-analyze available transcriptomic datasets together with newly sequenced genomes. I will map precise directions of hybridization at the phylogenetic tree, describe functional associations of introgressed loci, test selection signatures associated with introgression, and estimate the extent to which repeatable ecomorphological traits are underpinned by ""reusable"" elements of ancestral genomes. This research has groundbreaking potential in providing a direct test of a potential catalysing role of hybridization in fast speciation in this system.""

Оригинален текст от CORDIS (на английски).

Участници

UNIVERSITEIT ANTWERPEN · AntwerpenКоординаторБелгия