The influence of landscape configuration and environment on population genetic structure in a sedentary passerine: insights from loci located in different genomic regions.

The study of the factors structuring genetic variation can help to infer the neutral and adaptive processes shaping the demographic and evolutionary trajectories of natural populations. Here, we analyse the role of isolation by distance (IBD), isolation by resistance (IBR, defined by landscape composition) and isolation by environment (IBE, estimated as habitat and elevation dissimilarity) in structuring genetic variation in 25 blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) populations. We typed 1385 individuals at 26 microsatellite loci classified into two groups by considering whether they are located into genomic regions that are actively (TL; 12 loci) or not (NTL; 14 loci) transcribed to RNA. Population genetic differentiation was mostly detected using the panel of NTL. Landscape genetic analyses showed a pattern of IBD for all loci and the panel of NTL, but genetic differentiation estimated at TL was only explained by IBR models considering high resistance for natural vegetation and low resistance for agricultural lands. Finally, the absence for IBE suggests a lack of divergent selection pressures associated with differences in habitat and elevation. Overall, our study shows that markers located in different genomic regions can yield contrasting inferences on landscape-level patterns of realized gene flow in natural populations.

Heterozygosity at a single locus explains a large proportion of variation in two fitness-related traits in great tits: a general or a local effect?

In natural populations, mating between relatives can have important fitness consequences due to the negative effects of reduced heterozygosity. Parental level of inbreeding or heterozygosity has been also found to influence the performance of offspring, via direct and indirect parental effects that are independent of the progeny own level of genetic diversity. In this study, we first analysed the effects of parental heterozygosity and relatedness (i.e. an estimate of offspring genetic diversity) on four traits related to offspring viability in great tits (Parus major) using 15 microsatellite markers. Second, we tested whether significant heterozygosity-fitness correlations (HFCs) were due to 'local' (i.e. linkage to genes influencing fitness) and/or 'general' (genome-wide heterozygosity) effects. We found a significant negative relationship between parental genetic relatedness and hatching success, and maternal heterozygosity was positively associated with offspring body size. The characteristics of the studied populations (recent admixture, polygynous matings) together with the fact that we found evidence for identity disequilibrium across our set of neutral markers suggest that HFCs may have resulted from genome-wide inbreeding depression. However, one locus (Ase18) had disproportionately large effects on the observed HFCs: heterozygosity at this locus had significant positive effects on hatching success and offspring size. It suggests that this marker may lie near to a functional locus under selection (i.e. a local effect) or, alternatively, heterozygosity at this locus might be correlated to heterozygosity across the genome due to the extensive ID found in our populations (i.e. a general effect). Collectively, our results lend support to both the general and local effect hypotheses and reinforce the view that HFCs lie on a continuum from inbreeding depression to those strictly due to linkage between marker loci and genes under selection.

Individual genetic diversity and probability of infection by avian malaria parasites in blue tits (Cyanistes caeruleus).

Understanding the importance of host genetic diversity for coping with parasites and infectious diseases is a long-standing goal in evolutionary biology. Here, we study the association between probability of infection by avian malaria (Plasmodium relictum) and individual genetic diversity in three blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) populations that strongly differ in prevalence of this parasite. For this purpose, we screened avian malaria infections and genotyped 789 blue tits across 26 microsatellite markers. We used two different arrays of markers: 14 loci classified as neutral and 12 loci classified as putatively functional. We found a significant relationship between probability of infection and host genetic diversity estimated at the subset of neutral markers that was not explained by strong local effects and did not differ among the studied populations. This relationship was not linear, and probability of infection increased up to values of homozygosity by locus (HL) around 0.15, reached a plateau at values of HL from 0.15 to 0.40 and finally declined among a small proportion of highly homozygous individuals (HL > 0.4). We did not find evidence for significant identity disequilibrium, which may have resulted from a low variance of inbreeding in the study populations and/or the small power of our set of markers to detect it. A combination of subtle positive and negative local effects and/or a saturation threshold in the association between probability of infection and host genetic diversity in combination with increased resistance to parasites in highly homozygous individuals may explain the observed negative quadratic relationship. Overall, our study highlights that parasites play an important role in shaping host genetic variation and suggests that the use of large sets of neutral markers may be more appropriate for the study of heterozygosity-fitness correlations.

The role of immigration and local adaptation on fine-scale genotypic and phenotypic population divergence in a less mobile passerine.

Dispersal and local patterns of adaptation play a major role on the ecological and evolutionary trajectory of natural populations. In this study, we employ a combination of genetic (25 microsatellite markers) and field-based information (seven study years) to analyse the impact of immigration and local patterns of adaptation in two nearby (<7 km) blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) populations. We used genetic assignment analyses to identify immigrant individuals and found that dispersal rate is female-biased (72%). Data on lifetime reproductive success indicated that immigrant females produced fewer local recruits than their philopatric counterparts whereas immigrant males recruited more offspring than those that remained in their natal location. In spite of the considerably higher immigration rates of females, our results indicate that, in absolute terms, their demographic and genetic impact in the receiving populations is lower than that in immigrant males. Immigrants often brought novel alleles into the studied populations and a high proportion of them were transmitted to their recruits, indicating that the genetic impact of immigrants is not ephemeral. Although only a few kilometres apart, the two study populations were genetically differentiated and showed strong divergence in different phenotypic and life-history traits. An almost absent inter-population dispersal, together with the fact that both populations receive immigrants from different source populations, is probably the main cause of the observed pattern of genetic differentiation. However, phenotypic differentiation (PST) for all the studied traits greatly exceeded neutral genetic differentiation (FST), indicating that divergent natural selection is the prevailing factor determining the evolutionary trajectory of these populations. Our study highlights the importance of integrating individual- and population-based approaches to obtain a comprehensive view about the role of dispersal and natural selection on structuring the genotypic and phenotypic characteristics of natural populations.

[Malignant hyperthermia. Apropos of a case]. / Hipertermia maligna. A propósito de un caso.

We present the clinical case of a thirteen-year-old male patient who suffered a malignant hyperthermia syndrome after an adenoidectomy under general anaesthesia. The recovery of the patient was successful with the specific treatment of dantrolene. We believe it is interesting to publish all the cases of malignant hyperthermia in order to have a better knowledge of the real incidence in our country.