Modified Metabolism and Response to UV Radiation: Gene Expression Variations Along an Elevational Gradient in the Asiatic Toad (Bufo gargarizans).

High-elevation adaptation provides an excellent system for examining adaptive evolution, and adaptive variations may manifest at gene expression or any other phenotypic levels. We examined gene expression profiles of Asiatic toads (Bufo gargarizans) along an elevational gradient from both wild and common-garden acclimated populations. Asiatic toads originated from high altitudes have distinctive gene expression patterns. We identified 18 fixed differentially expressed genes (DEGs), which are different in both wild and acclimated samples, and 1217 plastic DEGs, which are different among wild samples. The expression levels of most genes were linearly correlated with altitude gradient and down-regulated in high-altitude populations. Expression variations of several genes associated with metabolic process are fixed, and we also identified a co-expression module that is significantly different between acclimated populations and has functions related to DNA repair. The differential expression of the vast majority genes, however, are due to phenotypic plasticity, revealing the highly plastic nature of gene expression variations. Expression modification of some specific genes related to metabolism and response to UV radiation play crucial role in adaptation to high altitude for Asiatic toads. Common-garden experiments are essential for evaluating adaptive evolution of natural populations.

Revisiting the evolution of the North American tetraploid treefrog (Hyla versicolor).

Hyla chrysoscelis and H. versicolor are common treefrogs in eastern North America and are a cryptic diploid-tetraploid species pair. They are morphologically identical but H. versicolor is a tetraploid. They can be identified acoustically by the male's advertisement mating call, which has a pulse repetition rate that has twice as many pulses per second in the diploid species, H. chrysoscelis. We used isozymes, microsatellite DNA alleles, and mitochondrial cytochrome b sequences to test the hypothesis that gene exchange occurs between the diploid and tetraploid species in sympatric populations. Each method provided results that are best explained by occasional hybridization of female H. versicolor and male H. chrysoscelis. We propose that H. versicolor first arose from an autotriploid H. chrysoscelis female that produced unreduced triploid eggs. After H. versicolor became established, genes could be passed from H. chrysoscelis to H. versicolor in sympatric populations when these species hybridize. Their F1 female progeny produce unreduced triploid eggs that are fertilized by haploid H. chrysoscelis sperm to reconstitute H. versicolor. Genes can be passed from diploid H. chrysoscelis to tetraploid H. versicolor in sympatric populations.

Genealogical relationships of southern Ontario polyploid unisexual salamanders (genus Ambystoma) inferred from intergenomic exchanges and major rDNA cytotypes.

North American unisexual salamanders in the genus Ambystoma are common around the Great Lakes region of North America. They contain an almost identical mitochondrial genome across their distribution that is unlike that of any of the four species whose genomes may be included in their nuclei. Thus, sequence-based phylogenies of unisexual populations are confusing. We used chromosomal intergenomic exchanges and major rDNA cytotypes as combined cytogenetic markers to tentatively construct a genealogy of unisexual Ambystoma in southern Ontario. We employed GISH and sequential/simultaneous GISH/FISH-rDNA to reveal intergenomic exchanges and rDNA cytotypes in unisexual A. laterale--2 jeffersonianum (LJJ) triploids and their tetraploid derivative A. laterale--3 jeffersonianum (LJJJ). We identified 10 different patterns of intergenomic exchanges from 18 isolated populations and used them as primary cytogenetic markers. Major rDNA cytotypes served as independent and supplementary markers. Our results suggest that current LJJ and LJJJ populations in southern Ontario are likely derived from a few unisexual individuals. Intergenomic exchanges are common phenomena and widely distributed in the salamanders of the A. laterale--A. jeffersonianum unisexual complex. Integration of GISH and FISH can exhibit multiple unrelated chromosomal markers on the same chromosome spread and demonstrate lineage relationships in unisexual populations. Similar methods may be applied for studying the molecular cytogenetics of other unisexuals to improve our understanding of their genealogical relationships and historical dispersal.