Cryptic species delineation in freshwater planarians of the genus Dugesia (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida): Extreme intraindividual genetic diversity, morphological stasis, and karyological variability

Leria, Laia; Vila‐Farré, Miquel; Álvarez‐Presas, Marta; Sánchez-Gracia, Alejandro; Rozas, Julio; Sluys, Ronald; Riutort, Marta

doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2019.05.010

Cited by 28 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 93 publications

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“…Such specialization can lead to speciation and generation of cryptic species—morphologically similar but genetically more or less distinct entities (Birky & Barraclough, 2009; Mayr, 1948; Peccoud et al, 2009)—with reproductive isolation further reinforced by differences in reproductive strategies among sexual and asexual lineages. Overall, this will result in genetically distinct sexual and asexual lineages specializing on different niches, having distinct life histories and possibly on the path of speciation (an example of this occurs in planarian species; Leria et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phenotypic plasticity rather than genotype drives reproductive choices in Hydra populations

et al. 2021

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Facultative clonality is associated with complex life cycles where sexual and asexual forms can be exposed to contrasting selection pressures. Facultatively clonal animals often have distinct developmental capabilities that depend on reproductive mode (e.g., negligible senescence and exceptional regeneration ability in asexual individuals, which are lacking in sexual individuals). Understanding how these differences in life history strategies evolved is hampered by limited knowledge of the population structure underlying sexual and asexual forms in nature. Here we studied genetic differentiation of coexisting sexual and asexual Hydra oligactis polyps, a freshwater cnidarian where reproductive mode‐dependent life history patterns are observed. We collected asexual and sexual polyps from 13 Central European water bodies and used restriction‐site associated DNA sequencing to infer population structure. We detected high relatedness among populations and signs that hydras might spread with resting eggs through zoochory. We found no genetic structure with respect to mode of reproduction (asexual vs. sexual). On the other hand, clear evidence was found for phenotypic plasticity in mode of reproduction, as polyps inferred to be clones differed in reproductive mode. Moreover, we detected two cases of apparent sex change (males and females found within the same clonal lineages) in this species with supposedly stable sexes. Our study describes population genetic structure in Hydra for the first time, highlights the role of phenotypic plasticity in generating patterns of life history variation, and contributes to understanding the evolution of reproductive mode‐dependent life history variation in coexisting asexual and sexual forms.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phenotypic plasticity rather than genotype drives reproductive choices in Hydra populations

et al. 2021

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“…More and more, the description of new Dugesiid species (and not only), species delineation, inferring phylogenetic relationships rely on integrative methods (e. g. Baguñà et al 1999, Carranza et al 1996, Harrath et al 2019, Lázaro et al 2009, Lázaro et al 2011, Leria et al 2020, Sluys et al 2013, Song et al 2020, Stocchino et al 2013, Wang et al 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Schmidtea sp., from the S-W Romania (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida, Dugesiidae)

Felicia

2021

Preprint

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The morphology and the anatomy of the copulatory apparatus in a Dugesiidae population from the SW Romania are presented. The copulatory apparatus is characterized by intermingled bursal canal musculature and two distinct penis bulbs with two large seminal vesicles. Based on these morphological characters, the population is assigned to the lugubris-polychroa group of species, now belonging to the genus Schmidtea (de Vries & Sluys 1991). The copulatory apparatus is also characterised by the presence of an atrial fold, characteristic of S. mediterranea. The assign of the morphotype here presented to the species level is delayed until integrative molecular analysis.

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“…This latter marker, hereafter referred to as Nd4toCox1, is tested for the first time in this work. The four nuclear genes correspond to the 18S rDNA type II (18S), a fragment of the 28S rDNA (28S), a partial coding region of the elongation factor 1-alpha gene (hereafter referred to as EF), and an anonymous nuclear marker (hereafter referred to as Tnuc813) developed from NGS data (as detailed in Leria et al, 2020 ) and tested here for the first time. Primers used to amplify and sequence the genes are mentioned in Table S1 .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Five new pseudocryptic land planarian species of Cratera (Platyhelminthes: Tricladida) unveiled through integrative taxonomy

Araujo

Carbayo

Riutort

et al. 2020

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Background Cratera is a genus of land planarians endemic to the Brazilian Atlantic forest. The species of this genus are distinguished from each other by a series of external and internal characters, nonetheless they represent a challenging taxonomic issue due to the extreme alikeness of the species analysed in the present work. To resolve these difficulties, we have performed morphological analyses and used three nuclear markers (ribosomal 18S and 28S, Elongation Factor, a new anonymous marker named Tnuc813) and two mitochondrial fragments (Cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene, and a fragment encompasing NADH deshydrogenase subunit 4 gene, trnF and the beginning of the Cytochrome c oxidase I gene) in an integrative taxonomic study. Methods To unveil cryptic species, we applied a molecular species delimitation approach based on molecular discovery methods, followed by a validation method. The putative species so delimited were then validated on the basis of diagnostic morphological features. Results We discovered and described four new species, namely Cratera assu, C. tui, C. boja, and C. imbiri. A fifth new species, C. paraitinga was not highly supported by molecular evidence, but was described because its morphological attributes are unique. Our study documents for the genus Cratera the presence of a number of highly similar species, a situation that is present also in other genera of land planarians. The high number of poorly differentiated and presumably recent speciation events might be explained by the recent geological history of the area.

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Cryptic species delineation in freshwater planarians of the genus Dugesia (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida): Extreme intraindividual genetic diversity, morphological stasis, and karyological variability

Cited by 28 publications

References 93 publications

Phenotypic plasticity rather than genotype drives reproductive choices in Hydra populations

Phenotypic plasticity rather than genotype drives reproductive choices in Hydra populations

Schmidtea sp., from the S-W Romania (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida, Dugesiidae)

Five new pseudocryptic land planarian species of Cratera (Platyhelminthes: Tricladida) unveiled through integrative taxonomy

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