The hidden history of the snowshoe hare, Lepus americanus: extensive mitochondrial DNA introgression inferred from multilocus genetic variation

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2014

Authors

Jose Melo Ferreira (Author) Other; Fernando A Seixas (Author) Other; Ellen Cheng (Author) Other; Scott S Mills (Author) Other; Paulo C Alves (Author) FCUP

Journal

Title: Molecular Ecology

Vol. 23

Pages: 4617-4630

ISSN: 0962-1083

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 36 Citations

Scopus - 33 Citations

Scientific classification

FOS: Natural sciences > Biological sciences

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-009-WDC

DOI: 10.1111/mec.12886

Abstract (EN): Hybridization drives the evolutionary trajectory of many species or local populations, and assessing the geographic extent and genetic impact of interspecific gene flow may provide invaluable clues to understand population divergence or the adaptive relevance of admixture. In North America, hares (Lepus spp.) are key species for ecosystem dynamics and their evolutionary history may have been affected by hybridization. Here we reconstructed the speciation history of the three most widespread hares in North America - the snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus), the white-tailed jackrabbit (L. townsendii) and the black-tailed jackrabbit (L. californicus) - by analysing sequence variation at eight nuclear markers and one mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) locus (6240 bp; 94 specimens). A multilocus-multispecies coalescent-based phylogeny suggests that L. americanus diverged similar to 2.7 Ma and that L. californicus and L. townsendii split more recently (similar to 1.2 Ma). Within L. americanus, a deep history of cryptic divergence (similar to 2.0 Ma) was inferred, which coincides with major speciation events in other North American species. While the isolation-with-migration model suggested that nuclear gene flow was generally rare or absent among species or major genetic groups, coalescent simulations of mtDNA divergence revealed historical mtDNA introgression from L. californicus into the Pacific Northwest populations of L. americanus. This finding marks a history of past reticulation between these species, which may have affected other parts of the genome and influence the adaptive potential of hares during climate change.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 14