Cytonuclear diversity and shared mitochondrial haplotypes among Daphnia galeata populations separated by seven thousand kilometres

Abstract

BackgroundThe zooplanktonic cladocerans Daphnia, present in a wide range of water bodies, are an important component of freshwater ecosystems. In contrast to their high dispersal capacity through diapausing eggs carried by waterfowl, Daphnia often exhibit strong population genetic differentiation. Here, to test for common patterns in the population genetic structure of a widespread Holarctic species, D. galeata, we genotyped two sets of populations collected from geographically distant areas: across 13 lakes in Eastern China and 14 lakes in Central Europe. The majority of these populations were genotyped at two types of markers: a mitochondrial gene (for 12S rRNA) and 15 nuclear microsatellite loci.ResultsMitochondrial DNA demonstrated relatively shallow divergence within D. galeata, with distinct haplotype compositions in the two study regions but one widely distributed haplotype shared between several of the Chinese as well as European populations. At microsatellite markers, clear separation was observed at both large (between China and Europe) and small (within Europe) geographical scales, as demonstrated by Factorial Correspondence Analyses, Bayesian assignment and a clustering method based on genetic distances. Genetic diversity was comparable between the sets of Chinese and European D. galeata populations for both types of markers. Interestingly, we observed a significant association between genetic distance and geographical distance for D. galeata populations in China but not in Europe.ConclusionsOur results indicate relatively recent spread of D. galeata across wide expanses of the Palaearctic, with one mtDNA lineage of D. galeata successfully establishing over large distances. Despite a clear differentiation of Chinese and European D. galeata at a nuclear level, the pattern of genetic variation is nevertheless similar between both regions. Overall, our findings provide insights into the genetic population structure of a cladoceran species with extremely wide geographical range.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12862-018-1256-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Lineage diversity, morphological and genetic divergence in Daphnia magna (Crustacea) among Chinese lakes at different altitudes

“…Similar evidence of rapid expansion has also been observed in other Daphnia species in Asia, such as D. mitsukuri Ishikawa, 1896 (Ma et al, 2019b) and D. galeata Sars, 1864 (Ma et al, 2015). In agreement with previous observations in other Daphnia species, for example, D. galeata (Thielsch et al, 2009;Yin et al, 2018) and D. mitsukuri (Ma et al, 2019b), we found that D. magna populations, regardless of their origin, had high relative clonal richness values (average R = 0.93), suggesting frequent sexual reproduction. However, high genetic diversity is not always a rule in Daphnia, as different species have different demographic histories (e.g., Zuykova et al, 2018a).…”

Daphnia galeata and D. dentifera are geographically and ecologically separated whereas their hybrids occur in intermediate habitats: A survey of 44 Chinese lakes

“…Individuals with missing data at more than five microsatellite loci were excluded, resulting in a final data set of 1,777 individuals (there was no amplification bias among parental species and hybrids, data not shown). Of 44 analysed populations, mitochondrial data for 22 populations and microsatellite data for 13 populations have been published elsewhere (Ma et al, ; Wei et al, ; Yin et al, ).…”

Clonal diversity and substantial genetic divergence of the Daphnia similis species complex in Chinese lakes: Possible adaptations to the uplift of the Qinghai‐Tibetan Plateau

“…Overall, D. sinensis populations, regardless of their origin, showed high relative clonal richness values (assessed by 12 microsatellites), suggesting frequent sexual reproduction. High clonal richness has also been observed in other Daphnia species, for example, D. galeata (Thielsch et al ; Yin et al ) and D. mitsukuri (Ma et al ). We detected very low clonal variation in D. sinensis in four Tibetan waterbodies (KLP, LZP, LZ3P, and SZP).…”

“…The genus Daphnia includes three subgenera: Daphnia, Hyalodaphnia, and Ctenodaphnia (Benzie 2005). Extensive biogeographical/population genetic studies have been carried out on members of the first two of these, including the Daphnia pulex species complex (e.g., Mergeay et al 2008;Vergilino et al 2011;Ma et al 2019b) and the Daphnia longispina species complex (e.g., Keller et al 2008;Petrusek et al 2008;Yin et al 2010Yin et al , 2018Ishida et al 2011;Ventura et al 2014). However, the last subgenus, Ctenodaphnia, has been the subject of very few taxonomy/biogeography studies (Adamowicz et al 2009;Petrusek et al 2013;Popova 2014).…”