The genic view of hybridization in the Anthropocene

Abstract

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Adaptive Differences in Gene Expression in Farm-Impacted Seedbeds of the Native Blue Mussel Mytilus chilensis

“…The results explain functional genomic aspects of farm-impacted Mytilus chilensis; such as the differentially expressed annotated genes (DETs), with multiple site-specific monomorphic genetic variants (GVs) in their transcripts. Since genetic diversity is the fuel for population adaptation and evolutionary potential, monitoring such variability at multiple functional loci should help in many ways, for example, to monitor translocations' impact by identifying hybrid or backcrossed individuals in farm-impacted areas (Ottenburghs, 2021). Simultaneously, it should help in translocation traceability to improve exploitation practices and, eventually, to restore natural seedbeds with reduced size and impoverished genetic diversity such as Yaldad (Astorga et al, 2020).…”

“…Understanding the genetic basis of adaptive phenotypes helps, eventually, to predict how populations will respond to climate change (Waldvogel et al, 2020) or human-driven habitat translocations; a common aquaculture practice, helpful as a mitigation strategy to increase genetic diversity and reduce extinction risk of inbred and small populations (Šegvić-Bubić et al, 2020). Nevertheless, translocations could increase the risk of loss of locally adapted alleles through the hybridization of divergent populations (Ottenburghs, 2021).…”

“…This industry depends entirely on seed collection from natural beds (Astorga et al, 2020), which are threatened by ocean warming and increasing acidification, affecting the mussels' fitness through the biomineralization process of shell growth, reproductive performance and recruitment (Castillo et al, 2017;Díaz et al, 2018;Malachowicz and Wenne, 2019;Mlouka et al, 2019). Likewise, the highly extractive pressure of selected phenotypes and translocations from seedbeds to fattening centers, a practice with poor traceability, hybridizes divergent populations eroding genetic diversity and affecting the fitness landscape (Ottenburghs, 2021). Given the importance of genetic diversity for evolutionary change and adaptation to unpredictable environments (Hoban et al, 2020;Laikre et al, 2020), there is a need to investigate adaptive differences in natural seedbeds impacted by the industry (henceforth farm-impacted seedbeds).…”

15 years of introgression studies: quantifying gene flow across Eukaryotes

“…Historically, hybridization and introgression have been seen as stronger drivers of evolution in plant biology than other fields (Anderson and Stebbins Jr 1954;Knobloch 1972;Heiser 1973;Rieseberg and Wendel 1993;Rieseberg 1997). Another potential reason for the focus on plants and mammals might be the interest in the role of introgression in domesticated taxa -some of the earliest well studied cases of introgression come from studies of domesticated taxa (Ellstrand, et al 1999;Grabenstein and Taylor 2018;Ottenburghs 2021). While the relative frequency of plant and mammal studies has decreased over time, this is not caused by a decrease in the interest in these groups.…”

“…Human disturbance and association can increase the chances of both hybridization and introgression (van Hengstum, et al 2012;Guo 2014;Ortego, et al 2017;Grabenstein and Taylor 2018;Ottenburghs 2021). We annotated Patterson's D values with human association status.…”