Mitochondrial genomic divergence in coelacanths (Latimeria): slow rate of evolution or recent speciation?

Sudarto, _; Lalu, Xandramaya C.; Kosen, Janny D.; Tjakrawidjaja, Agus H.; Kusumah, Ruby Vidia; Sadhotomo, Bambang; Kadarusman,; Pouyaud, Laurent; Slembrouck, Jacques; Paradis, Emmanuel

doi:10.1007/s00227-010-1492-7

Cited by 15 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…The relative rate test does not reject the molecular clock between groups A and B (Table S3), indicating that we can interpolate the divergence times based on other estimates from the literature. The divergence time between the two coelacanth species was estimated in three studies (14)(15)(16) (16). However, the authors were cautious about this older dating because they also found that evolutionary distance and the pattern of nucleotide substitutions between L. chalumnae and L. menadoensis were very similar to those observed between Pan troglodytes and Pan paniscus, divergence of which may not be older than 10 Mya.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We compared the rates of pair-wise nucleotide substitutions between individuals in populations A and B to those between L. chalumnae and L. menadoensis (Table 2 and Table S4). Because our data fail to reject a molecular clock (Table S3), we estimated the divergence times using the estimates of the substitution rates from sources in the literature (14)(15)(16) (4) proposed that the coelacanth individuals caught or observed off the African mainland were strays. The argument for the "strays hypothesis" is as follows.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Genetically distinct coelacanth population off the northern Tanzanian coast

Nikaido

Sasaki

Emerson

et al. 2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Since the sensational discovery of a living coelacanth off the east coast of South Africa, the geographic distribution of viable coelacanth populations has been a subject of debate. In the past, the coelacanths off the African mainland were thought to be strays from the Comoros because most coelacanths captured were caught in the waters surrounding the Comoros archipelagos. However, in recent years, a large number of coelacanths were captured off the coast of Tanzania, including nine living specimens observed in a remotely operated vehicles survey. Thus, it is possible that there is a reproducing population inhabiting waters off the Tanzania coast. We have sequenced the complete mitochondrial genomes of 21 Tanzanian and 2 Comoran coelacanths and analyzed these sequences together with two additional full mitochondrial genomes and 47 d-loop sequences from the literature. We found that the coelacanth population off the northern Tanzanian coast is genetically differentiated from those of the southern Tanzania coast and the Comoros, whereas no significant genetic differentiation occurs between the latter two localities. The differentiation between the northern and southern Tanzanian coast populations is consistent with the hypothesis that the existence of northward-flowing ocean current along the Tanzanian coast may reduce or prevent gene flow from the northern to the southern population. Finally, we estimated that the population localized to the southern Tanzanian coast and the Comoros diverged from other coelacanths at least 200,000 y ago. These results indicate that the coelacanths off the northern Tanzania coast are not strays but a genetically distinct group. Our study provides important information for the conservation of this threatened “living fossil.”

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetically distinct coelacanth population off the northern Tanzanian coast

Nikaido

Sasaki

Emerson

et al. 2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…On the other hand, using the entire mtDNA sequences (except for the d-loop) and Bayesian methods, Inoue et al (2005) estimated the divergence time at about 30 MYA. Sudarto et al (2010) also used Bayesian analysis and proposed the divergence time to be 28 MYA.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extremely slow rate of evolution in the HOX cluster revealed by comparison between Tanzanian and Indonesian coelacanths

Higasa

Nikaido

Saito

et al. 2012

Gene

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“…Assuming that the Hox gene clusters and shh are evolving particularly slowly, does this indicate a general trend for the whole nuclear genome? Analyses of three nuclear genes ( protocadherin clusters [18], vitellogenin genes [19], and nuclear-encoded recombination activating genes [19,20]) and two of the whole mitochondrial genome [21,22] are often quoted in support of the hypothesis of slow evolution. However, a closer look at the data challenges this interpretation: depending on the analysed sequence, the coelacanth branch is not systematically shorter than the branches leading to other species.…”

Section: Low Molecular Diversity and Low Geographic Differentiation Imentioning

confidence: 99%

Why coelacanths are not ‘living fossils’

Casañe

Laurenti

2013

BioEssays

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A series of recent studies on extant coelacanths has emphasised the slow rate of molecular and morphological evolution in these species. These studies were based on the assumption that a coelacanth is a 'living fossil' that has shown little morphological change since the Devonian, and they proposed a causal link between low molecular evolutionary rate and morphological stasis. Here, we have examined the available molecular and morphological data and show that: (i) low intra-specific molecular diversity does not imply low mutation rate, (ii) studies not showing low substitution rates in coelacanth are often neglected, (iii) the morphological stability of coelacanths is not supported by paleontological evidence. We recall that intra-species levels of molecular diversity, inter-species genome divergence rates and morphological divergence rates are under different constraints and they are not necessarily correlated. Finally, we emphasise that concepts such as 'living fossil', 'basal lineage', or 'primitive extant species' do not make sense from a tree-thinking perspective.

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Mitochondrial genomic divergence in coelacanths (Latimeria): slow rate of evolution or recent speciation?

Cited by 15 publications

References 36 publications

Genetically distinct coelacanth population off the northern Tanzanian coast

Genetically distinct coelacanth population off the northern Tanzanian coast

Extremely slow rate of evolution in the HOX cluster revealed by comparison between Tanzanian and Indonesian coelacanths

Why coelacanths are not ‘living fossils’

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