Comparative population genetics in asexual vs. sexual species offers the opportunity to investigate the impact of asexuality on genome evolution. Here, we analyse coding sequence polymorphism and divergence patterns in the fascinating Lineus ribbon worms, a group of marine, carnivorous nemerteans with unusual regeneration abilities, and in which asexual reproduction by fissiparity is documented. The population genomics of the fissiparous L. pseudolacteus is characterized by an extremely high level of heterozygosity and unexpectedly elevated πN /πS ratio, in apparent agreement with theoretical expectations under clonal evolution. Analysis of among-species allele sharing and read-count distribution, however, reveals that L. pseudolacteus is a triploid hybrid between Atlantic populations of L. sanguineus and L. lacteus. We model and quantify the relative impact of hybridity, polyploidy and asexuality on molecular variation patterns in L. pseudolacteus and conclude that (i) the peculiarities of L. pseudolacteus population genomics result in the first place from hybridization and (ii) the accumulation of new mutations through the Meselson effect is more than compensated by processes of heterozygosity erosion, such as gene conversion or gene copy loss. This study illustrates the complexity of the evolutionary processes associated with asexuality and identifies L. pseudolacteus as a promising model to study the first steps of polyploid genome evolution in an asexual context.
From our current understanding of the genetic basis of development and pattern formation in Drosophila and vertebrates it is commonly thought that clusters of Hox genes sculpt the morphology of animals in specific body regions. Based on Hox gene conservation throughout the animal kingdom it is proposed that these genes and their role in pattern formation evolved early during the evolution of metazoans. Knowledge of the history of Hox genes will lead to a better understanding of the role of Hox genes in the evolution of animal body plans. To infer Hox gene evolution, reliable data on lower chordates and invertebrates are crucial. Among the lower triploblasts, the body plan of the ribbonworm Lineus (nemertini) appears to be close to the common ancestral condition of protostomes and deuterostomes. In this paper we present the isolation and identification of Hox genes in Lineus sanguineus. We find that the Lineus genome contains a single cluster of at least six Hox genes: two anterior-class genes, three middle-class genes, and one posterior-class gene. Each of the genes can be definitely assigned to an ortholog group on the basis of its homeobox and its f lanking sequences. The most closely related homeodomain sequences are invariably found among the mouse or Amphioxus orthologs, rather than Drosophila and other invertebrates. This suggests that the ribbonworms have diverged relatively little from the last common ancestors of protostomes and deuterostomes, the urbilateria.
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