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Supplementary material 6 from: Zizka VMA, Weiss M, Leese F (2020) Can metabarcoding resolve intraspecific genetic diversity changes to environmental stressors? A test case using river macrozoobenthos. Metabarcoding and Metagenomics 4: e51925. https://doi.org/10.3897/mbmg.4.51925

Figure S6. Average nucleotide diversity for all four datasets of shared OTUs seperated according to sample sites and EPT (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera) and PR ('Pollution Resistant') taxa

Supplementary material 5 from: Zizka VMA, Weiss M, Leese F (2020) Can metabarcoding resolve intraspecific genetic diversity changes to environmental stressors? A test case using river macrozoobenthos. Metabarcoding and Metagenomics 4: e51925. https://doi.org/10.3897/mbmg.4.51925

Figure S5. Average haplotype diversity for all four datasets of shared OTUs seperated according to sample sites and EPT (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera) and PR ('Pollution Resistant') taxa

Supplementary material 7 from: Zizka VMA, Weiss M, Leese F (2020) Can metabarcoding resolve intraspecific genetic diversity changes to environmental stressors? A test case using river macrozoobenthos. Metabarcoding and Metagenomics 4: e51925. https://doi.org/10.3897/mbmg.4.51925

Figure S7 – part 1. Haplotype network of the two most frequent EPT (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera) and PR ('Pollution Resistant') taxa

Supplementary material 4 from: Zizka VMA, Weiss M, Leese F (2020) Can metabarcoding resolve intraspecific genetic diversity changes to environmental stressors? A test case using river macrozoobenthos. Metabarcoding and Metagenomics 4: e51925. https://doi.org/10.3897/mbmg.4.51925

Figure S4. Average haplotype number per OTU for the four different datasets of shared OTUs. Datasets are split into EPT (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera) and PR ('Pollution Resistant') taxa

Supplementary material 3 from: Zizka VMA, Weiss M, Leese F (2020) Can metabarcoding resolve intraspecific genetic diversity changes to environmental stressors? A test case using river macrozoobenthos. Metabarcoding and Metagenomics 4: e51925. https://doi.org/10.3897/mbmg.4.51925

Figure S3. Average haplotype number per OTU for the four different datasets of shared OTUs. Values are illustrated for all sample sites including all shared OTUs

Supplementary material 2 from: Zizka VMA, Weiss M, Leese F (2020) Can metabarcoding resolve intraspecific genetic diversity changes to environmental stressors? A test case using river macrozoobenthos. Metabarcoding and Metagenomics 4: e51925. https://doi.org/10.3897/mbmg.4.51925

Figure S2. Four different datasets including shared OTUs between the different river systems (Emscher-Ennepe-Sieg, Emscher-Ennepe, Emscher-Sieg, Sieg-Ennepe). Number of OTUs is illustrated with taxonomic assignment on order level

Supplementary material 1 from: Zizka VMA, Weiss M, Leese F (2020) Can metabarcoding resolve intraspecific genetic diversity changes to environmental stressors? A test case using river macrozoobenthos. Metabarcoding and Metagenomics 4: e51925. https://doi.org/10.3897/mbmg.4.51925

Figure S1. Total number of aquatic macroinvertebrate individuals per sample and season plotted against the average haplotype number per OTU. Different colours indicate the three river systems

Functional genetic diversity of domestic and wild American mink (Neovison vison )

The release of domestic organisms to the wild threatens biodiversity because the introduction of domestic genes through interbreeding can negatively impact wild conspecifics via outbreeding depression. In North America, farmed American mink (Neovison vison) frequently escape captivity, yet the impact of these events on functional genetic diversity of wild mink populations is unclear. We characterized domestic and wild mink in Ontario at 17 microsatellites located in functional genes and in a promoter region that is non-coding but thought to be associated with traits affected by domestication. We found low functional genetic diversity in both mink types, as only 4 of 17 genes were variable, and the number of alleles per locus were generally lower in captive mink than in wild mink. To determine if allele frequencies of wild populations were affected by domestic release events, we performed redundancy analysis and spatial analysis of principal components on four polymorphic loci (AR, ATN1, IGF-1, and TOB1). We found evidence to suggest domestic release events are affecting the functional genetic diversity of wild mink, as sPCA showed clear distinctions between wild individuals near mink farms and those located in areas without mink farms. This is further substantiated through RDA, where spatial location was associated with genetic variation of AR, ATN1, and IGF1.

Species-specific effects of thermal stress on the expression of genetic variation across a diverse group of plant and animal taxa under experimental conditions

Assessing the genetic adaptive potential of populations and species is essential for better understanding evolutionary processes. However, the expression of genetic variation may depend on environmental conditions, which may speed up or slow down evolutionary responses. Thus, the same selection pressure may lead to different responses. Against this background, we here investigate the effects of thermal stress on genetic variation, mainly under controlled laboratory conditions. We estimated additive genetic variance (VA), narrow-sense heritability (h2), and the coefficient of genetic variation (CVA) under both benign control and stressful thermal conditions. We included six species spanning a diverse range of plant and animal taxa and a total of 25 morphological and life-history traits. Our results show that (1) thermal stress reduced fitness components, (2) the majority of traits showed significant genetic variation, and that (3) thermal stress affected the expression of genetic variation (VA, h2 or CVA) in only one third of the cases (25 of 75 analyses, mostly in one clonal species). Moreover, effects were highly species-specific, with genetic variation increasing in 11 and decreasing in 14 cases under stress. Our results hence indicate that thermal stress does not generally affect the expression of genetic variation under laboratory conditions but, nevertheless, increases or decreases genetic variation in specific cases. Consequently, predicting the rate of genetic adaptation might not be generally complicated by environmental variation, but requires a careful case-by-case consideration.

Data from: Phylogenomic approaches reveal how climate shapes patterns of genetic diversity in an African rain forest tree species

The world's second largest expanse of tropical rain forest is in Central Africa and it harbours enormous species diversity. Population genetic studies have consistently revealed significant structure across central African rain forest plants, in particular a North-South genetic discontinuity around the equatorial line, in a continuous expanse of rain forest but where a climatic inversion is documented. Here, we took a phylogeographic approach by sequencing 351 nuclear markers in 112 individuals across the distribution of the African rain forest tree species Annickia affinis (Annonaceae). We showed for the first time that the North-South divide is the result of a single, major colonisation event across the climatic inversion from an ancestral population located in Gabon. We suggested that differences in ecological niche of populations located on either side of this inversion may have contributed to this phylogenetic discontinuity. We found evidence for inland dispersal, predominantly in northern areas, and variable demographic histories among genetic clusters, indicating that populations responded differently to past climate change. We show how newly-developed genomic tools can provide invaluable insights into our understanding of tropical rain forest evolutionary dynamics.

Data from: Genetic diversity and demographic history of introduced sika deer on the Delmarva Peninsula

The introduction of non-native species can have long-term effects on native plant and animal communities. Introduced populations are occasionally not well understood and offer opportunities to evaluate changes in genetic structure through time and major population changes such as bottleneck and or founder events. Invasive species can often evolve rapidly in new and novel environments, which could be essential to their long-term success. Sika deer are native to East Asia, and their introduction and establishment to the Delmarva Peninsula, USA is poorly documented, but probably involved ≥1 founder and/or bottleneck events. We quantified neutral genetic diversity in the introduced population and compared genetic differentiation and diversity to the presumed source population from Yakushima Island, Japan, and a captive population of sika deer in Harrington, Delaware, USA. Based on data from 10 microsatellite DNA loci, we observed reduced genetic variation attributable to founder events, support for historic hybridization events, and evidence that the population did originate from Yakushima Island stocks. Estimates of population structure through Bayesian clustering and demographic history derived from Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC), were consistent with the hypothesized founder history of the introduced population in both timing and effective population size (approximately 5 effective breeding individuals, an estimated 36 generations ago). Our ABC results further supported a single introduction into the wild happening before sika deer spread throughout the Delmarva. We conclude that free-ranging sika deer on Delmarva are descended from ca. 5 individuals introduced about 100 years ago from captive stocks of deer maintained in the United Kingdom. Free-ranging sika deer on Delmarva have lost neutral diversity due to founder and bottleneck events, yet populations have expanded in recent decades and show no evidence of abnormalities associated with inbreeding. We suggest management practices including increasing harvest areas and specifically managing sika deer outside of Maryland.

Data from: Riverscape genetics in brook lamprey: genetic diversity is less influenced by river fragmentation than by gene flow with the anadromous ecotype

Understanding the effect of human induced landscape fragmentation on gene flow and evolutionary potential of wild populations has become a major concern. Here, we investigated the effect of riverscape fragmentation on patterns of genetic diversity in the freshwater resident European brook lamprey (Lampetra planeri) that has a low ability to pass obstacles to migration. We also tested the hypotheses of i) asymmetric gene flow following water current and ii) a positive effect of admixture with the closely related anadromous river lamprey (L. fluviatilis) ecotype on L. planeri genetic diversity. We genotyped 2472 individuals, including 225 L. fluviatilis, sampled from 81 sites upstream and downstream barriers to migration, in 29 western European rivers. Linear modelling revealed a strong positive relationship between genetic diversity and the distance from the river source, consistent with expected patterns of decreased gene flow into upstream populations. However, the presence of anthropogenic barriers had a moderate effect on spatial genetic structure. Accordingly, we found evidence for downstream-directed gene flow, supporting the hypothesis that barriers do not limit dispersal mediated by water flow. Downstream L. planeri populations in sympatry with L. fluviatilis displayed consistently higher genetic diversity. We conclude that genetic drift and slight downstream gene flow drive the genetic make-up of upstream L. planeri populations whereas admixture between ecotypes maintains higher levels of genetic diversity in L. planeri populations sympatric with L. fluviatilis. We discuss the implications of these results for the design of conservation strategies of lamprey, and other freshwater organisms with several ecotypes, in fragmented dendritic river networks.

opencc-zeroAug 2021View details →

Data from: Topography, more than land cover, explains genetic diversity in a Neotropical savanna treefrog

Aim: Effective conservation policies rely on information about population genetic structure and the connectivity of remnants of suitable habitat. The interaction between natural and anthropogenic discontinuities across landscapes can uncover the relative contributions of different barriers to gene flow, with direct consequences for decision-making in conservation. Therefore, we aimed to quantify the relative roles of land cover and topographic variables on the population genetic differentiation and diversity of a stream-breeding savanna treefrog (Bokermannohyla ibitiguara) across its range. Location: Serra da Canastra mountain range, Cerrado of Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Methods: We collected and extracted DNA samples from 12 populations within and outside a strictly protected park, and used 17 microsatellite markers to assess genetic structure, among-population differentiation, and within-population diversity measures. We incorporated landscape data derived from digital models and satellite images to create connectivity matrices to correlate with genetic differentiation using Mantel tests. We used generalized linear models and path analyses to assess the roles of each landscape variable in shaping genetic diversity in this species. Results: Populations within and outside the park boundaries belonged to four genetic clusters. Most populations showed evidence of limited gene flow, with significant genetic differentiation, except for those within the park, which also had higher levels of allelic richness and heterozygosity. However, genetic differentiation among populations in this landscape was primarily explained by topographic complexity. Likewise, within-population genetic measures were best explained by models including elevation and topographic complexity, and not the amount of natural habitat or gallery forests. Main conclusions: Our results underscore that topography may be a strong historical factor shaping genetic structure among amphibian populations. Therefore, effective conservation strategies for endangered amphibians should avoid focusing exclusively on habitat suitability, and incorporate topographic complexity, which seems to be a key factor for the fauna of the extremely threatened Brazilian savanna.

opencc-by-4.0Sep 2020View details →

Whole genome sequence analysis of porcine astroviruses reveals novel genetically diverse genotypes circulating in East African smallholder pig farms

Supplementary materials for the porcine astrovirus study in East Africa. Table S1: Pairwise comparison of nucleotide sequence identities of the complete (near complete, U460) genomes of the seven (7) astrovirus field strains (bold) and with sequences of other astroviruses available in GenBank  Table S2. Summary of nucleotide sequence identity matrix of the capsid protein (ORF2) among the seven (7) astroviruses field strains (bold) and the known reference strains in the GenBank using Clustal Omega Table S3. Summary of amino acid sequence identity matrix of the capsid protein (ORF2) among the 7 astroviruses field strains (bold) and the known reference strains in the GenBank using Clustal Omega Table S4: Estimates of evolutionary divergence between the East African PoAstVs and selected known AstV in the GenBank based on the amino acid sequences of complete ORF2 protein. The number of amino acid differences per site from between sequences is shown. Standard error estimate(s) are shown above the diagonal for our strains. Table S5. Recommended potential linear antigenic epitopes predicted inside capsid protein (ORF2) of our field strains by SVMTriP web-based tool and corresponding antigenicity predicted by VaxiJen software

opencc-by-4.0Nov 2019View details →

Berbers and Arabs: tracing the genetic diversity and history of Southern Tunisia through genome wide analysis

SNP data of 79 individuals from 3 ethnolinguistic groups from Tunisia

opencc-zeroSep 2020View details →

Data from: The impact of anthropogenic disturbances on the genetic diversity of terrestrial species: a global meta-analysis

Duplicate of 10.5061/dryad.6hdr7sqxq Human activities are primarily responsible for habitat loss and changes in natural environments around the world. It has been suggested that populations inhabiting human-modified landscapes experience reduced gene flow, inbreeding depression, and loss of alleles due to genetic drift. However, the empirical evidence shows contrasting effects of anthropogenic disturbances on the genetic diversity of species. We performed a meta-analysis of 61 studies that compared the genetic diversity of plant and/or animal populations in disturbed and more preserved areas (316 paired comparisons) to investigate the genetic responses to different disturbance types. There is a negative effect (effect size: -0.45; 95% CI: -0.61, -0.29) of disturbances on genetic diversity, in which the most detrimental effects are caused by the loss of connectivity and forest cover. The methodological approach can explain part of the heterogeneity among the genetic responses detected by primary studies: (i) studies using the number of effective alleles did not detect genetic erosion, while all other indices, revealed negative responses to disturbances; and (ii) only studies performed with transferred or a combination of transferred and specific microsatellites detected negative responses. The effects on animal populations are more detrimental than in plant populations. Only plant species with shrub life form, self-incompatible reproductive systems, and biotic pollination and seed dispersal, showed negative responses to disturbances. Despite all heterogeneity among studies, there is an overall negative effect of disturbances on the genetic diversity, which indicates that remaining populations inhabiting human-modified landscapes have reduced evolutionary potential and are prone to local extinction.

opencc-zeroOct 2020View details →

Functional and genetic diversity changes through time in a cloud forest ant assemblage

Climate change in the Neotropics is causing upslope range shifts. We used arrays of ant species collected in a cloud forest at 1,500 m in Área de Conservación Guanacaste (ACG), northwestern Costa Rica, collected in two time periods (1998-2000 and 2008-2011) to measure changes in species richness and diversity over a decade. Using metrics of community structure, we found that the species assemblage in the collections from the 1990s were significantly phylogenetically clustered and functionally less diverse as compared to collections from the early 2000's. At both time points, the assemblages were significantly phylogenetically clustered and while the difference in functional diversity between the time points was not significant, the ant assemblage has become lighter in color (on average) over time. When individual species are considered the overall pattern of replacement is consistent with the cloud forest ant assemblage being colonized by arrivals from lower-elevation forests. The invertebrate communities on cloud forested mountain tops are especially vulnerable to a changing climate as there are two factors working together; no higher terrain to which they can move and the invasion of more and more taxa from lower downslope. This vulnerability is already measurable.

opencc-zeroOct 2021View details →

Effects of maternal genotypic identity and genetic diversity of the red mangrove Rhizophora mangle on associated soil bacterial communities: a field-based experiment

Loss of plant biodiversity can result in reduced abundance and diversity of associated species with implications for ecosystem functioning. In ecosystems low in plant species diversity, such as Neotropical mangrove forests, it is thought that genetic diversity within the dominant plant species could play an important role in shaping associated communities. Here, we used a manipulative field experiment to study the effects of maternal genotypic identity and genetic diversity of the red mangrove Rhizophora mangle on the composition and richness of associated soil bacterial communities. Using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) community fingerprinting, we found that bacterial community composition differed among R. mangle maternal genotypes but not with genetic diversity. Bacterial taxa richness, total soil nitrogen, and total soil carbon were not significantly affected by maternal genotypic identity or genetic diversity of R. mangle. Our findings show that genotype selection in reforestation projects could influence soil bacterial community composition. Further research is needed to determine what impact these bacterial community differences might have on ecosystem processes, such as carbon and nitrogen cycling.

opencc-zeroDec 2020View details →

Data from: Genetic diversity of the rain tree (Albizia saman) in Colombian seasonally dry tropical forest for informing conservation and restoration interventions

Albizia saman is a multipurpose tree species of seasonally dry tropical forests (SDTFs) of Mesoamerica and northern South America typically cultivated in silvopastoral and other agroforestry systems around the world, a trend that is bound to increase in light of multimillion hectare commitments for forest and landscape restoration. The effective conservation and sustainable use of A. saman requires detailed knowledge of its genetic diversity across its native distribution range of which surprisingly little is known to date. We assessed the genetic diversity and structure of A.saman across twelve representative locations of SDTF in Colombia, and how they may have been shaped by past climatic changes and human influence. We found four different genetic groups which may be the result of differentiation due to isolation of populations in pre-glacial times. The current distribution and mixture of genetic groups across STDF fragments we observed might be the result of range expansion of SDTFs during the last glacial period followed by range contraction during the Holocene and human-influenced movement of germplasm associated with cattle ranching. Despite the fragmented state of the presumed natural A. saman stands we sampled we did not find any signs of inbreeding, suggesting that gene flow is not jeopardized in humanized landscapes. However, further research is needed to assess potential deleterious effects of fragmentation on progeny. Climate change is not expected to seriously threaten the in situ persistence of A. saman populations and might present opportunities for future range expansion. However, the sourcing of germplasm for tree planting activities needs to be aligned with the genetic affinity of reference populations across the distribution of Colombian SDTFs. We identify priority source populations for in situ conservation based on their high genetic diversity, lack or limited signs of admixture and/or genetic uniqueness.