Seasonality of primary production explains the richness of pioneering benthic communities.

A pattern of increasing species richness from the poles to the equator is frequently observed in many animal taxa. Ecological limits, determined by the abiotic conditions and biotic interactions within an environment, are one of the major factors influencing the geographical distribution of species diversity. Energy availability is often considered a crucial limiting factor, with temperature and productivity serving as empirical measures. However, these measures may not fully explain the observed species richness, particularly in marine ecosystems. Here, through a global comparative approach and standardised methodologies, such as Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS) and DNA metabarcoding, we show that the seasonality of primary production explains sessile animal richness comparatively or better than surface temperature or primary productivity alone. A Hierarchical Generalised Additive Model (HGAM) is validated, after a model selection procedure, and the prediction error is compared, following a cross-validation approach, with HGAMs including environmental variables commonly used to explain animal richness. Moreover, the linear effect of production magnitude on species richness becomes apparent only when considered jointly with seasonality, and, by identifying world coastal areas characterized by extreme values of both, we postulate that this effect may result in a positive relationship in environments with lower seasonality.

Evidence of unidirectional gene flow in a fragmented population of Salmo trutta L.

Selection, genetic drift, and gene flow affect genetic variation within populations and genetic differences among populations. Both drift and selection tend to decrease variation within populations and increase differences among populations, whereas gene flow increases variation within populations but leads to populations being related. In brown trout (Salmo trutta L.), the most important factor in population fragmentation is disrupted river-segment connectivity. The main goal of the study was to use genetic analysis to estimate the level of gene flow among resident and migratory brown trout in potential hybridization areas located downstream of impassable barriers in one river basin in the southern Baltic Sea region. First, spawning redds were counted in the upper river basin downstream of impassable barriers. Next, samples were collected from juveniles in spawning areas located downstream of barriers and from adults downstream and upstream of barriers. Subsequently, genetic analysis was performed using a panel of 13 microsatellite loci and the Salmo trutta 5 K SNP microarray. The genetic differentiation estimated between the resident form sampled upstream of the barriers and the anadromous specimens downstream of the barriers was high and significant. Analysis revealed that gene flow occurred between the two forms in the hybridization zone investigated and that isolated resident specimens shared spawning grounds with sea trout downstream of the barriers. The brown trout population from the river system investigated was slightly, internally diversified in the area accessible to migration. Simultaneously, the isolated part of the population was very different from that in the rest of the basin. The spawning areas of the anadromous form located downstream of the barriers were in a hybridization zone and gene flow was confirmed to be unidirectional. Although they constituted a small percentage, the genotypes typical upstream of the barriers were admixed downstream of them. The lack of genotypes noted upstream of the barriers among adult anadromous individuals might indicate that migrants of upstream origin and hybrids preferred residency.

SNP genotyping reveals substructuring in weakly differentiated populations of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) from diverse environments in the Baltic Sea.

Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) is one of the most important fish species in northern Europe for several reasons including its predator status in marine ecosystems, its historical role in fisheries, its potential in aquaculture and its strong public profile. However, due to over-exploitation in the North Atlantic and changes in the ecosystem, many cod populations have been reduced in size and genetic diversity. Cod populations in the Baltic Proper, Kattegat and North Sea have been analyzed using a species specific single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array. Using a subset of 8,706 SNPs, moderate genetic differences were found between subdivisions in three traditionally delineated cod management stocks: Kattegat, western and eastern Baltic. However, an FST measure of population differentiation based on allele frequencies from 588 outlier loci for 2 population groups, one including 5 western and the other 4 eastern Baltic populations, indicated high genetic differentiation. In this paper, differentiation has been demonstrated not only between, but also within western and eastern Baltic cod stocks for the first time, with salinity appearing to be the most important environmental factor influencing the maintenance of cod population divergence between the western and eastern Baltic Sea.

Genetic Differentiation in Hatchery and Stocked Populations of Sea Trout in the Southern Baltic: Selection Evidence at SNP Loci.

The impacts and interactions between hatchery-bred fish and wild fish populations has been a topic of active investigation in recent decades. In some instances, the benefits of stocking can be overshadowed by negative effects such as genetic introgression with natural populations, loss of genetic diversity, and dilution of local adaptations. Methods that facilitate the identification of stocked fish enable us to estimate not only the effectiveness of stocking but also the level of natural reproduction and the degree of hybridization. The longest Baltic river, the Vistula, also has the second highest discharge. Historically, it hosted numerous populations of the anadromous form of brown trout (sea trout); however, dam construction has since interfered with and reduced spawning migration to a rate that is much lower than before. Reduced spawning has resulted in a population collapse and a negative flow-on effect on commercial catches. In response, Poland (along with many other Baltic countries) initiated an intensive stocking program which continues today and which sees the average annual release of 700,000 smolts. As a consequence, today's main-river and inshore catches come from stock-enhanced populations. High-throughput single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping was performed on samples of sea trout from southern Baltic populations; results suggest that a significant portion of the sea trout catches in the Vistula mouth region have direct hatchery origin and indicate the presence of Pomeranian specimens. SNP loci identified as outliers indicate a potential selection pressure that may be related with effects of hatchery breeding and mixing with natural populations. The brown trout SNP array applied in this study showed high effectiveness not only for population differentiation, but more importantly, it emerged as a sensitive tool to provide evidence of detection selection.

The genetic relationship between extirpated and contemporary Atlantic salmon Salmo salar L. lines from the southern Baltic Sea.

BACKGROUND: The genetic relationship between original Atlantic salmon populations that are now extinct in the southern Baltic Sea and the present-day populations has long been controversial. To investigate and clarify this issue, we successfully genotyped individuals of the historical populations from the Oder and Vistula Rivers using DNA extracted from dried scales with the Atlantic salmon single nucleotide polymorphism array. RESULTS: Our results showed a global F ST of 0.2515 for all pairs of loci, which indicates a high level of genetic differentiation among the groups analyzed in this study. Pairwise F ST values were significant for all comparisons and the highest values were found between present-day reintroduced Slupia River salmon and extinct Vistula River Atlantic salmon. Bayesian analysis of genetic structure revealed the existence of substructures in the extirpated Polish populations and three main clades among studied stocks. CONCLUSIONS: The historical salmon population from the Oder River was genetically closer to present-day salmon from the Neman River than to the historical salmon from the Vistula River. Vistula salmon clearly separated from all other analyzed salmon stocks. It is likely that the origins of the Atlantic salmon population from the Morrum River and the Polish historical native populations are different.

Restitution and genetic differentiation of salmon populations in the southern Baltic genotyped with the Atlantic salmon 7K SNP array.

BACKGROUND: Native populations of Atlantic salmon in Poland, from the southern Baltic region, became extinct in the 1980s. Attempts to restitute salmon populations in Poland have been based on a Latvian salmon population from the Daugava river. Releases of hatchery reared smolts started in 1986, but to date, only one population with confirmed natural reproduction has been observed in the Slupia river. Our aim was to investigate the genetic differentiation of salmon populations in the southern Baltic using a 7K SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) array in order to assess the impact of salmon restitution in Poland. METHODS: One hundred and forty salmon samples were collected from: the Polish Slupia river including wild salmon and individuals from two hatcheries, the Swedish Morrum river and the Lithuanian Neman river. All samples were genotyped using an Atlantic salmon 7K SNP array. A set of 3218 diagnostic SNPs was used for genetic analyses. RESULTS: Genetic structure analyses indicated that the individuals from the investigated populations were clustered into three groups i.e. one clade that included individuals from both hatcheries and the wild population from the Polish Slupia river, which was clearly separated from the other clades. An assignment test showed that there were no stray fish from the Morrum or Neman rivers in the sample analyzed from the Slupia river. Global FST over polymorphic loci was high (0.177). A strong genetic differentiation was observed between the Lithuanian and Swedish populations (FST = 0.28). CONCLUSIONS: Wild juvenile salmon specimens that were sampled from the Slupia river were the progeny of fish released from hatcheries and, most likely, were not progeny of stray fish from Sweden or Lithuania. Strong genetic differences were observed between the salmon populations from the three studied locations. Our recommendation is that future stocking activities that aim at restituting salmon populations in Poland include stocking material from the Lithuanian Neman river because of its closer geographic proximity.

Identification of multiple diagnostic SNP loci for differentiation of three salmonid species using SNP-arrays.

This paper reports the use of SNP-array technology in a cross-species study for non-ambiguous species identifications. Based on an existing SNP-array for Atlantic salmon (cross)hybridisations with samples of salmon, brown trout and rainbow trout were analyzed to identify species-specific diagnostic markers. In total 566 SNP loci were identified to be highly polymorphic across the three salmonid species providing the molecular basement for various monitoring applications in aquaculture and food industries.

Genotyping of two populations of Southern Baltic Sea trout Salmo trutta m. trutta using an Atlantic salmon derived SNP-array.

The sea trout (Salmo trutta m. trutta) is an anadromous, teleost fish species characterized by homing behaviour. The sea trout has considerable ecological and economic significance. It reproduces naturally in rivers flowing into, and is common in, the Baltic Sea. In Poland spawning aggregations occur in the Vistula River and the rivers of Pomerania. Two populations from the Vistula River (TW) and a Pomeranian river, the Slupia (TP) were mixed in the past by stocking. The main purpose of this study was an assessment of the applicability of the Atlantic salmon custom design Illumina iSelect SNP (Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms) array containing 15,225 markers for identification of genetic diversity between sea trout populations. A diagnostic panel of 39 SNPs with a mean FST=0.1298 was selected from a pool of 15,225. At each locus, minor allele frequency was higher than 0.01 and mean expected heterozygosity for TW and TP populations were 0.343 and 0.271 respectively. Individuals tested were clustered in one of two groups which corresponded to their origins where the TW population was genetically more homogenous (membership coefficients ranked from 88.8% to 98.6%) while the TP population was more diverse (membership coefficients ranked from 53.8% to 98.5%). The results demonstrated the applicability of the Salmon 15K SNP-chip for determining the differences between Southern Baltic populations of the sea trout, a closely related salmonid species.

Identification of a Tc1-like transposon integration site in the genome of the flounder (Platichthys flesus): a novel use of an inverse PCR method.

The inverse PCR method has been developed and applied employed for the identification of the integration sites of the Tc1-like transposons in the genome of the flounder, Platichthys flesus. One Tc1-like insertion instance was recognized and characterized, demonstrating an efficiency of the method for determining of transposon integration sites. The similarity of the sequence flanking transposon (SFT) to reverse transcriptase sequences (RVT) was demonstrated. It is likely that the insertion took place within currently degenerated LINE (long interspersed nuclear elements) retrotransposon.

Family of Tc1-like elements from fish genomes and horizontal transfer.

The involvement of horizontal transfer (HT) in the evolution of vertebrate transposable elements (TEs) is a matter of an ongoing debate. The phylogenetic relationships between Tc1 TEs, based on limited dataset have been previously used to infer a case of Tc1 HT between the genomes of fish and frogs. Here this hypothesis has been critically evaluated by the experimental approach including comparative data on the range of fish species available today. The distribution of a Tc1 subfamily of TE in selected fish species was investigated by PCR with a single primer complementary to ITRs and showed that they are widespread in the studied 17 fish species. They belong to five different subfamilies of Tc1 TEs, as revealed by the comparison with current genomic data for fish and amphibians. The original hypothesis would get much weaker support from the current data, although at least one novel potential and more convincing case of HT was identified between genomes of Perciformes fish. An interesting case of recombination-driven mobilisation of a degenerated TE by distantly related TE from different subfamily was discovered in the genome of pike. The occurrence of such cases widens the range of TE elements identifiable with the employed experimental approach. Further similar studies would help to explain the evolution of the multiple Tc1 lineages including species for which full genome sequences will not be available soon.