The selection of the 'wild': A combined molecular approach for the identification of pure indigenous fish from hybridised populations.

The identification of pure indigenous fish from hybridised populations represents a key issue in fisheries management and conservation biology. In the present study an approach for selection of purebred marble trout (Salmo trutta marmoratus C.) individuals out of admixed populations was set up and assessed. In a first step, baseline data sets of pure marble trout and pure brown trout specimens based on twelve microsatellite loci were used to simulate five consecutive generations of admixture. The baseline and the resulting simulation data sets were then combined with data of a 'real' hybridised marble trout population to perform a single individual assignment test as implemented in STRUCTURE. By this procedure the assignment approach was calibrated and it was possible to compare admixture coefficients obtained for individuals from different populations. The ranking of individual admixture coefficients on a plot and comparison with simulated data revealed that the test population was composed of pure marble trout individuals, first generation hybrids between marble trout and brown trout, and hybrid backcross specimens between both groups. However, by defining a critical q-value of 0.1 and additionally integrating individual sequence data of the mtDNA control region, it was possible to indicate individuals, which could be selected for the establishment of a pure marble trout strain.

Speciation via introgressive hybridization in East African cichlids?

Speciation caused by introgressive hybridization occurs frequently in plants but its importance remains controversial in animal evolution. Here we report a case of introgressive hybridization between two ancient and genetically distinct species of Lake Tanganyika cichlids that led to the formation of a new species. Neolamprologus marunguensis contains mtDNA haplotypes from both parental species varying on average by 12.4% in the first section of the control region and by 5.2% in a segment of the cytochrome b gene. All individuals have almost identical DNA sequences in the flanking regions of the single-copy nuclear DNA locus TmoM27, and show a mosaic of alleles derived from both parental lineages in six microsatellite loci. Hence, our finding displays another mode of speciation in cichlid fishes. The increase of genetic and phenotypic diversity due to hybridization may contribute to the uniquely rapid pace of speciation in cichlids.

Lake level fluctuations synchronize genetic divergences of cichlid fishes in African lakes.

Water level fluctuations are important modulators of speciation processes in tropical lakes, in that they temporarily form or break down barriers to gene flow among adjacent populations and/or incipient species. Time estimates of the most recent major lowstands of the three African Great Lakes are thus crucial to infer the relative timescales of explosive speciation events in cichlid species flocks. Our approach combines geological evidence with genetic divergence data of cichlid fishes from the three Great East African Lakes derived from the fastest-evolving mtDNA segment. Thereby, we show for each of the three lakes that individuals sampled from several populations which are currently isolated by long geographic distances and/or deep water form clusters of equally closely related haplotypes. The distribution of identical or equally closely related haplotypes in a lake basin allows delineation of the extent of lake level fluctuations. Our data suggest that the same climatic phenomenon synchronized the onset of genetic divergence of lineages in all three species flocks, such that their most recent evolutionary history seems to be linked to the same external modulators of adaptive radiation. A calibration of the molecular clock of the control region was elaborated by gauging the age of the Lake Malawi species flock through the divergence among the utaka-cichlid and the mbuna-cichlid lineages to minimally 570,000 years and maximally 1 Myr. This suggests that the low-lake-level period which established the observed patterns of genetic relatedness dates back less than 57,000 years, probably even to 17,000-12,400 years ago, when Lake Victoria dried up and Lakes Malawi and Tanganyika were also low. A rapid rise of all three lakes about 11,000 years ago established the large-scale population subdivisions observed today. Over that period of time, a multitude of species originated in Lakes Malawi and Victoria with an impressive degree of morphological and ecological differentiation, whereas the Tanganyikan taxa that were exposed to the same habitat changes hardly diverged ecologically and morphologically. Our findings also show that patterns of genetic divergences of stenotopic organisms provide valuable feedback on geological and sedimentological time estimates for lake level changes.

Ecological parallelism and cryptic species in the genus Ophiothrix derived from mitochondrial DNA sequences.

We addressed the long-standing problem of species assignment of two nominal species of the genus Ophiothrix (Echinodermata, Ophiuroidea) by phylogenetic analysis of a segment of the mitochondrial 16S rDNA. Our phylogeny identified two distinct mitochondrial lineages that do not correspond to the present species assignments. Individuals of the endemic Mediterranean species O. quinquemaculata were clustered with individuals of O. fragilis in both mitochondrial lineages. We thus suggest that these taxa are not biological species but ecotypes. Differences between the two ecotypes in morphological and physiological characteristics may be explained by adaptation to environmental conditions at different water depths. Despite the observed ecomorphological variability within each of the two major mitochondrial lineages, the large genetic distance (9.0-12.0%) between them does suggest the existence of two distinct biological species. Their reproductive isolation could result from differences in reproductive strategy rather than by ecological and/or morphological differentiation.