Identifying model violations under the multispecies coalescent model using P2C2M.SNAPP

Genomic insights into the population history of fat-tailed sheep and identification of two mutations that contribute to fat tail adipogenesis

INTRODUCTION

Since their domestication, domestic sheep (Ovis aries) have been culturally and economically significant farming animals worldwide. Fat-tailed sheep serve as a unique genetic resource for understanding adipogenesis and adaptive evolution in livestock.

OBJECTIVES

Several genomic analyses have been conducted on various sheep breeds to elucidate the genome and regulation mechanism of the fat tail trait, prior genomic studies have failed to reconcile conflicting evidence about the genetic basis of tail morphology, particularly regarding the roles of PDGFD and BMP2.

METHODS

Here, we conducted whole-genome resequencing of 283 sheep, encompassing 66 domestic breeds and 5 wild ovine species, to investigate the domestication history and selection signatures of fat-tailed sheep. Additionally, we performed transcriptome sequencing on adipose tissue to identify differentially expressed genes and cellular assays to validate these results.

RESULTS

Demographic analysis revealed that domestic sheep descended from Asiatic mouflon and fat-tailed sheep began to diverge from thin-tailed sheep approximately 4.4-7.5 thousand years ago in East Asia. Chinese indigenous sheep were classified into Mongolian, Kazakh, Tibetan, and Yunnan populations. The Yunnan population may have experienced more recent genetic introgression from wild species, rather than an independent domestication event. Moreover, many potential regions associated with the fat-tailed phenotype (DDI1, PDGFD, and BMP2) were identified by selective sweep and genome-wide association analyses. Additionally, a fine-scale analysis of fat-tailed and thin-tailed sheep revealed two novel mutations: a G/A missense variant of PDGFD (Chr15: 3900312) and a C/T missense variant of BMP2 (Chr13: 48462350), both of which were significantly associated with tail adiposity. Functional validation demonstrated that mutant A-PDGFD significantly activated PFGFD expression and reduced fat deposition compared to wildtype. The C-BMP2 mutant activated BMP2 expression and promoted preadipocyte fat deposition.

CONCLUSION

Our study provides the first evidence that these genes jointly regulate fat tail development through complementary mechanisms: PDGFD promotes adipose expansion, whereas BMP2 modulates energy partitioning. These findings offer new insights into the evolutionary history of fat-tailed sheep and identify potential targets for precision breeding in small ruminants.

Phylogenomic Discordance is Driven by Wide-Spread Introgression and Incomplete Lineage Sorting During Rapid Species Diversification Within Rattlesnakes (Viperidae: Crotalus and Sistrurus)

-Phylogenomics allows us to uncover the historical signal of evolutionary processes through time and estimate phylogenetic networks accounting for these signals. Insight from genome-wide data further allows us to pinpoint the contributions to phylogenetic signal from hybridization, introgression, and ancestral polymorphism across the genome. Here, we focus on how these processes have contributed to phylogenetic discordance among rattlesnakes (genera Crotalus and Sistrurus), a group for which there are numerous conflicting phylogenetic hypotheses based on a diverse array of molecular datasets and analytical methods. We address the instability of the rattlesnake phylogeny using genomic data generated from transcriptomes sampled from nearly all known species. These genomic data, analyzed with coalescent and network-based approaches, reveal numerous instances of rapid speciation where individual gene trees conflict with the species tree. Moreover, the evolutionary history of rattlesnakes is dominated by incomplete speciation and frequent hybridization, both of which have likely influenced past interpretations of phylogeny. We present a new framework in which the evolutionary relationships of this group can only be understood in light of genome-wide data and network-based analytical methods. Our data suggest that network radiations, like those seen within the rattlesnakes, can only be understood in a phylogenomic context, necessitating similar approaches in our attempts to understand evolutionary history in other rapidly radiating species.

Complex Patterns of Diversification in the Gray Zone of Speciation: Model-Based Approaches Applied to Patagonian Liolaemid Lizards (Squamata: Liolaemus kingii clade)

In this study we detangled the evolutionary history of the Patagonian lizard clade Liolaemus kingii, coupling dense geographic sampling and novel computational analytical approaches. We analyzed nuclear and mitochondrial data (restriction site-associated DNA sequencing and cytochrome b) to hypothesize and evaluate species limits, phylogenetic relationships, and demographic histories. We complemented these analyses with posterior predictive simulations to assess the fit of the genomic data to the multispecies coalescent model. We also employed a novel approach to time-calibrate a phylogenetic network. Our results show several instances of mito-nuclear discordance and consistent support for a reticulated history, supporting the view that the complex evolutionary history of the kingii clade is characterized by extensive gene flow and rapid diversification events. We discuss our findings in the contexts of the "gray zone" of speciation, phylogeographic patterns in the Patagonian region, and taxonomic outcomes. [Model adequacy; multispecies coalescent; multispecies network coalescent; phylogenomics; species delimitation.].

Assessing model adequacy leads to more robust phylogeographic inference

Phylogeographic studies base inferences on large data sets and complex demographic models, but these models are applied in ways that could mislead researchers and compromise their inference. Researchers face three challenges associated with the use of models: (i) 'model selection', or the identification of an appropriate model for analysis; (ii) 'evaluation of analytical results', or the interpretation of the biological significance of the resulting parameter estimates, delimitations, and topologies; and (iii) 'model evaluation', or the use of statistical approaches to assess the fit of the model to the data. The field collectively invests most of its energy in point (ii) without considering the other points; we argue that attention to points (i) and (iii) is essential to phylogeographic inference.

Interspecific Gene Flow and Mitochondrial Genome Capture During the Radiation of Jamaican Anolis Lizards (Squamata; Iguanidae)

Gene flow and reticulation are increasingly recognized as important processes in the diversification of many taxonomic groups. With the increasing ease of collecting genomic data and the development of multispecies coalescent network approaches, such reticulations can be accounted for when inferring phylogeny and diversification. Caribbean Anolis lizards are a classic example of an adaptive radiation in which species have independently radiated on the islands of the Greater Antilles into the same ecomorph classes. Within the Jamaican radiation at least one species, A. opalinus, has been documented to be polyphyletic in its mitochondrial DNA, which could be the result of an ancient reticulation event or incomplete lineage sorting. Here we generate mtDNA and genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) data and implement gene-tree, species-tree, and multispecies coalescent network methods to infer the diversification of this group. Our mtDNA gene-tree recovers the same relationships previously inferred for this group, which is strikingly different from the species-tree inferred from our GBS data. Posterior predictive simulations suggest that our genomic data violate commonly adopted assumptions of the multispecies coalescent model, so we use network approaches to infer phylogenetic relationships. The inferred network topology contains a reticulation event but does not explain the mtDNA polyphyly observed in this group, however coalescent simulations suggest that the observed mtDNA topology is likely the result of past introgression. How common a signature of gene flow and reticulation is across the radiation of Anolis is unknown; however, the reticulation events that we demonstrate here may have allowed for adaptive evolution, as has been suggested in other, more recent adaptive radiations.

Genome-wide data reveal extensive gene flow during the diversification of the western rattlesnakes (Viperidae: Crotalinae: Crotalus)

Hybridization and introgression are important, but often overlooked processes when inferring phylogenies. When these processes are not accounted for and a strictly diverging phylogenetic model is applied to groups with a history of hybridization, phylogenetic inference and parameter estimation can be inaccurate. Recent developments in phylogenetic network approaches coupled with the increasing availability of genomic data allow inferences of reticulate evolutionary histories across the tree of life. The western rattlesnake species group (C. viridis species complex, C. mitchellii species complex, C. scutulutas, and C. tigris) is an iconic snake lineage that is widespread across western North America. This group is composed of several species complexes with unclear species limits, likely the result of ongoing gene flow among nascent lineages. Here I generate reduced representation genomic data and test for a history of reticulation within this group. I demonstrate that all species have undergone hybridization with at least one other lineage, suggesting introgression is widespread in this group. Topologies differ between phylogenies estimated under the multispecies coalescent and multispecies network coalescent methods, indicating that gene flow has obscured phylogenetic relationships within this group. These past introgression events are predominantly restricted to species that co-occur geographically. However, within species that have a history of introgression, this signature is detected regardless of specimen sampling across geography. Overall, my results suggest the accumulation of reproductive isolating barriers occurs slowly in rattlesnakes which likely leads to the difficulty in delimiting species, furthermore, the results of this study have implications for trait evolution in this group.

Two new Nothophytophthora species from streams in Ireland and Northern Ireland: Nothophytophthora irlandica and N. lirii sp. nov

Slow growing oomycete isolates with morphological resemblance to Phytophthora were obtained from forest streams during routine monitoring for the EU quarantine forest pathogen Phytophthora ramorum in Ireland and Northern Ireland. Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) sequence analysis indicated that they belonged to two previously unknown species of Nothophytophthora, a recently erected sister genus of Phytophthora. Morphological and temperature-growth studies were carried out to characterise both new species. In addition, Bayesian and Maximum-Likelihood analyses of nuclear 5-loci and mitochondrial 3-loci datasets were performed to resolve the phylogenetic positions of the two new species. Both species were sterile, formed chlamydospores and partially caducous nonpapillate sporangia, and showed slower growth than any of the six known Nothophytophthora species. In all phylogenetic analyses both species formed distinct, strongly supported clades, closely related to N. chlamydospora and N. valdiviana from Chile. Based on their unique combination of morphological and physiological characters and their distinct phylogenetic positions the two new species are described as Nothophytophthora irlandica sp. nov. and N. lirii sp. nov. Their potential lifestyle and geographic origin are discussed.

The Destructive Tree Pathogen Phytophthora ramorum Originates from the Laurosilva Forests of East Asia

As global plant trade expands, tree disease epidemics caused by pathogen introductions are increasing. Since ca 2000, the introduced oomycete Phytophthora ramorum has caused devastating epidemics in Europe and North America, spreading as four ancient clonal lineages, each of a single mating type, suggesting different geographical origins. We surveyed laurosilva forests for P. ramorum around Fansipan mountain on the Vietnam-China border and on Shikoku and Kyushu islands, southwest Japan. The surveys yielded 71 P. ramorum isolates which we assigned to eight new lineages, IC1 to IC5 from Vietnam and NP1 to NP3 from Japan, based on differences in colony characteristics, gene x environment responses and multigene phylogeny. Molecular phylogenetic trees and networks revealed the eight Asian lineages were dispersed across the topology of the introduced European and North American lineages. The deepest node within P. ramorum, the divergence of lineages NP1 and NP2, was estimated at 0.5 to 1.6 Myr. The Asian lineages were each of a single mating type, and at some locations, lineages of "opposite" mating type were present, suggesting opportunities for inter-lineage recombination. Based on the high level of phenotypic and phylogenetic diversity in the sample populations, the coalescence results and the absence of overt host symptoms, we conclude that P. ramorum comprises many anciently divergent lineages native to the laurosilva forests between eastern Indochina and Japan.