Heterozygote deficiency and chimerism in remote populations of a colonial ascidian from New Zealand

Ben‐Shlomo, Rachel; Douek, Jacob; Rinkevich, Baruch

doi:10.3354/meps209109

Cited by 69 publications

(83 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…The significance level was determined after 20 batches and 1000 interactions each. F ST between different sampling dates was calculated according to Schneider et al (1997) following Ben-Shlomo et al (2001).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic structure of Botryllus schlosseri (Tunicata) populations from the Mediterranean coast of Israel

Paz¹,

Douek²,

Mo³

et al. 2003

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Botryllus schlosseri, a subtidal cosmopolitan tunicate species, is abundant in many rocky shores along the Mediterranean and other European seas. A highly polymorphic microsatellite locus (BS-811) elucidated Botryllus population genetics in 3 localities along the Israeli coast (at Shikmona, Caesarea and Michmoret, 12 to 36 km apart from each other, north to south, respectively) during 8 seasonal samplings (2 yr). Four other loci were studied only in the Michmoret population. The analysis on 1156 scorable colonies revealed a high number of alleles per locus (up to 15 to 38 alleles), unique alleles for each population (8 to 13 alleles per locus), high heterozygous deficiency, rapid seasonal changes in allele frequencies at all sites, and the existence of natural chimeric colonies. Locus BS-811, which was studied in all 3 localities, revealed 34 to 40 alleles per locality, and a total of 64 alleles, of which 48% were unique to one or other of the localities. Only 24 colonies from the 1156 studied were heterozygous on this locus. These results are discussed together with recent outcomes from B. schlosseri populations sampled in New Zealand, the east and west coasts of the USA and the Adriatic Sea, Croatia.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic structure of Botryllus schlosseri (Tunicata) populations from the Mediterranean coast of Israel

Paz¹,

Douek²,

Mo³

et al. 2003

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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“…sponges, cnidarians, bryozoans and ascidians). The occurrence of chimeras in natural populations [7,[9][10][11][12] suggests that fusion of non-identical conspecific genotypes is sometimes permitted, despite the fact that colonial marine invertebrates generally discriminate between clone mates and non-clone mates [13 -16]. Rather than representing allorecognition failure, it is possible that, by potentially increasing survival of early life-history stages, chimerism is adaptive in sessile, colonial marine animals [17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High potential for formation and persistence of chimeras following aggregated larval settlement in the broadcast spawning coral, Acropora millepora

et al. 2011

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In sessile modular marine invertebrates, chimeras can originate from fusions of closely settling larvae or of colonies that come into contact through growth or movement. While it has been shown that juveniles of brooding corals fuse under experimental conditions, chimera formation in broadcast spawning corals, the most abundant group of reef corals, has not been examined. This study explores the capacity of the broadcast spawning coral Acropora millepora to form chimeras under experimental conditions and to persist as chimeras in the field. Under experimental conditions, 1.5-fold more larvae settled in aggregations than solitarily, and analyses of nine microsatellite loci revealed that 50 per cent of juveniles tested harboured different genotypes within the same colony. Significantly, some chimeric colonies persisted for 23 months post-settlement, when the study ended. Genotypes within persisting chimeric colonies all showed a high level of relatedness, whereas rejecting colonies displayed variable levels of relatedness. The nearly threefold greater sizes of chimeras compared with solitary juveniles, from settlement through to at least three months, suggest that chimerism is likely to be an important strategy for maximizing survival of vulnerable early life-history stages of corals, although longer-term studies are required to more fully explore the potential benefits of chimerism.

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“…However other solitary ascidian, Pyura gibbosa, showed no genetic differentiation over a scale of 215 km. Whereas colonial species, which are usually brooders with shorter free larval periods exhibit genetic structure even at scales of meters or tens of meters (Ayre et al 1997), including the species Botrillus schlosseri one of the most successful colonizer and invader species which also shows the influence of the glaciations on their genetic structure along the European coasts (Yund and O'Neil, 2000;Ben-Shlomo et al, 2001Stoner et al, 2002). Similarly other taxa as bivalves, corals and bryozoans with lecithotrophic or aplanic larvae show significant genetic variation on scales from tens of meters to few kilometres (Goldson et al, 2001;Holmes et al, 2004).…”

Section: Differentiation Among Populationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Population genetic structure of the ascidian Styela rustica at Kongsfjorden, Svalbard, Arctic

Demarchi

Chiappero

Laudien

et al. 2008

Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology

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The actual Arctic biota shows a strong affinity with that of the Boreal Atlantic and Pacific ones, as a result of an active recolonization process after the Quaternary glaciations. The geographic distribution of sessile species is usually linked to larvae dispersive capabilities which can be directly related with time spent in the plankton. Ascidians larvae are lecitothorphic and short-lived, which suggest that ascidians could be not efficient dispersers. However, the solitary ascidian Styela rustica (Linnaeus, 1767) (Tunicata, Ascidiacea) shows a wide distribution pattern from the North Atlantic to the Arctic that, together with the relatively recent colonization of the Arctic system could indicate that this species efficiently disperses and colonizes new habitats. In this study we used ISSR-PCR markers to study the genetic structure of five populations of the ascidian Styela rustica at Kongsfjorden, west Spitsbergen (Svalbard archipelago). We analyzed whether this species presents a low genetic structure, as can be expected due to the historical process of recent post glaciations colonization, or if there is genetic differentiation at a local scale, caused by short-lived larvae and limited dispersal potential. The genetic diversity in each population assessed using the marker diversity index (M) ranged from 0.288 to 0.324. Population HN, situated close to a fast retreating glacier, showed the lowest diversity. Processes associated with deglatiation (icebergs calving from the glacier that scour the benthos and the increment of inorganic particulate matter on the water column) would drive to reduced population sizes and explain the reduced genetic variability observed in the HN population with respect to the others in the fjord. This suggests a possible linkage with the global warming process. Although the weak genetic structure found among the studied populations could indicate a founder effect, the genetic landscape shape analysis together with a positive relationship between genetic and geographic distances also suggest possible current gene flow among populations in the fjord.

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Heterozygote deficiency and chimerism in remote populations of a colonial ascidian from New Zealand

Cited by 69 publications

References 22 publications

Genetic structure of Botryllus schlosseri (Tunicata) populations from the Mediterranean coast of Israel

Genetic structure of Botryllus schlosseri (Tunicata) populations from the Mediterranean coast of Israel

High potential for formation and persistence of chimeras following aggregated larval settlement in the broadcast spawning coral, Acropora millepora

Population genetic structure of the ascidian Styela rustica at Kongsfjorden, Svalbard, Arctic

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