Discordance in maternal and paternal genetic markers in lesser long-nosed bat Leptonycteris yerbabuenae, a migratory bat: recent expansion to the North and male phylopatry

Abstract

Leptonycteris yerbabuenae, the lesser long-nosed bat is an abundant migratory nectar-feeding bat found in most of Mexico, and in some areas of northern Central America and small sections of southwestern USA. We analyzed the distribution of the maternal and paternal lineages of this species with phylogeographic methods based on two mitochondrial markers, Cyt-b and D-loop, and a marker located in the Y chromosome, DBY. We obtained tissue samples from 220 individuals from 23 localities. Levels of genetic diversity (haplotype diversity, Hd) were high (Cyt-b = 0.757; D-loop = 0.8082; DBY = 0.9137). No clear patterns of population genetic structure were found for mitochondrial markers, while male genetic differentiation suggested the presence of two lineages: one from Mexican Pacific coast states and another from central-southern Mexico; in accordance to strong male philopatry and higher female migration. We used genealogical reconstructions based on Bayesian tools to calculate divergence times, and to test coalescent models to explain changes in L. yerbabuenae historical demography. Our results show that recent demographic changes were consistent with global climatic changes (∼130,000 kyr ago for Cyt-b and ∼160,000 kyr for D-loop) and divergence times dated from molecular genealogies exhibited older divergence times, Cyt-b (4.03 mya), D-loop (10.26 mya) and DBY (12.23 mya). Accordingly, the female lineage underwent demographic expansion associated to Pleistocene climate change, whereas the male lineage remained constant.

Discordant population structure inferred from male- and female-type mtDNAs from Macoma balthica, a bivalve species characterized by doubly uniparental inheritance of mitochondria

“…Indeed, in studies using female-transmited mtDNA and male-transmitted Y chromosome to investigate population structure, sex-biased asymmetries are often cited as a determinant of discordant geographic patterns ( e.g . Boissinot et al 1997, Trejo-Salazar et al 2021). Sex-level differences in gene flow are scarcely reported but exist in bivalves, as in the protandrous pearl oyster Pinctada mazatlanica , which effective sex-ratio is strongly biased towards males (Arnaud-Haond et al 2003).…”

“…female-transmited mtDNA and male-transmitted Y chromosome to investigate population structure, sex-biased asymmetries are often cited as a determinant of discordant geographic patterns (e.g Boissinot et al 1997, Trejo-Salazar et al 2021…”

Historical, temporal, and geographic dynamism of the interaction between Agave and Leptonycteris nectar‐feeding bats

“…We constructed databases with the presence records of L. yerbabuenae ( n = 499) and L. nivalis ( n = 137) from museum specimen data, as well as localities published previously (Hernández, 2021; Trejo‐Salazar et al, 2021). We used data from the following collections: Colección Nacional de Mamíferos del Instituto de Biología, UNAM (CNMA); Colección de Mamíferos del Museo de Zoología “Alfonso L. Herrera”, Facultad de Ciencias, UNAM; Colección de Mamíferos de la Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana y Colección Mastozoológica de la Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas del Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN).…”

“…The influence of Pleistocene climatic oscillations over some Agave (Scheinvar et al, 2016) and Leptonycteris (Trejo‐Salazar et al, 2021) species have been explored before; and following these two separate ideas, we decided to integrate the two interacting groups and project the ecological‐evolutionary interaction into the recent geological past. Both of the Leptonycteris bat species from Mexico are migratory, and their distribution covers most of the country's territory, as well as some locations on the border with the United States of America (Arita and Santos del Prado, 1999).…”

“…In addition, our analyses can help to determine priority conservation areas, where the best and most stable environmental conditions occur for the development and maintenance of this mutualistic interaction. Leptonycteris yerbabuenae's distribution was modeled before by Trejo-Salazar et al (2021), where they reported a demographic expansion associated with climate change from the Pleistocene to the present. We also wanted to study the distribution of L. nivalis in the past, and its possible expansion.…”