Refine
Year of publication
- 2020 (2) (remove)
Document Type
- Article (2)
Language
- English (2)
Has Fulltext
- yes (2)
Is part of the Bibliography
- no (2)
Keywords
- - (2)
- Approximate Bayesian Computation (1)
- Characteristic Attribute Organization System (1)
- DNA taxonomy (1)
- SNP (1)
- SPecies IDentity and Evolution in R (1)
- clonal (1)
- diagnostic (genetic) characters (1)
- genetic diversity (1)
- integrative taxonomy (1)
- invasive route (1)
Institute
Publisher
- Wiley (2)
Abstract
With the advent of molecular genetic methods, an increasing number of morphologically cryptic taxa has been discovered. The majority of them, however, remains formally undescribed and without a proper name although their importance in ecology and evolution is increasingly being acknowledged. Despite suggestions to complement traditional descriptions with genetic characters, the taxonomic community appears to be reluctant to adopt this proposition. As an incentive, we introduce QUIDDICH, a tool for the QUick IDentification of DIgnostic CHaracters, which automatically scans a DNA or amino acid alignment for those columns that allow to distinguish taxa and classifies them into four different types of diagnostic characters. QUIDDICH is a system‐independent, fast and user‐friendly tool that requires few manual steps and provides a comprehensive output, which can be included in formal taxonomic descriptions. Thus, cryptic taxa do not have to remain in taxonomic crypsis and, bearing a proper name, can readily be included in biodiversity assessments and ecological and evolutionary analyses. QUIDDICH can be obtained from the comprehensive R archive network (CRAN, https://cran.r-project.org/package=quiddich).
Abstract
Non‐native invasive species are threatening ecosystems and biodiversity worldwide. High genetic variation is thought to be a critical factor for invasion success. Accordingly, the global invasion of a few clonal lineages of the gastropod Potamopyrgus antipodarum is thus both puzzling and has the potential to help illuminate why some invasions succeed while others fail. Here, we used SNP markers and a geographically broad sampling scheme (N = 1617) including native New Zealand populations and invasive North American and European populations to provide the first widescale population genetic assessment of the relationships between and among native and invasive P. antipodarum. We used a combination of traditional and Bayesian molecular analyses to demonstrate that New Zealand populations harbour very high diversity relative to the invasive populations and are the source of the two main European genetic lineages. One of these two European lineages was in turn the source of at least one of the two main North American genetic clusters of invasive P. antipodarum, located in Lake Ontario. The other widespread North American group had a more complex origin that included the other European lineage and two New Zealand clusters. Altogether, our analyses suggest that just a small handful of clonal lineages of P. antipodarum were responsible for invasion across continents. Our findings provide critical information for prevention of additional invasions and control of existing invasive populations and are of broader relevance towards understanding the establishment and evolution of asexual populations and the forces driving biological invasion.