Avise Sketches of Nature

A Geneticist's Look at the Biological World During a Golden Era of Molecular Ecology
1. Auflage 2015
ISBN: 978-0-12-801960-3
Verlag: Elsevier Science & Techn.
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 280 Seiten

This visually appealing book recounts the history of molecular ecology and evolution as seen through the personal lens of one of its most prolific practitioners, who has studied a panorama of creatures ranging from corals, sponges, and other invertebrates to a wide variety of vertebrate animals including numerous birds, mammals, herps, and fishes. The sketches are of two types: evocative drawings of the animals themselves, and more than 230 written abstracts summarizing the author's eclectic research on ecological-genetic topics spanning the microevolutionary to macroevolutionary. With the abstracts arranged by organismal group and placed in chronological order, the chapters in this book lead readers on a fascinating historical journey into the realm of molecular genetics as applied across the past four decades to intriguing questions in ecology, evolution, animal behavior, and natural history. - Encapsulates salient genetic findings on a diverse array of creatures in nature - Recounts the history of technological and conceptual developments in ecological genetics - Includes approximately 80 beautiful line drawings of the animals themselves - Provides context by preceding each abstract with an anecdote or historical backdrop - Concludes each abstract with an addendum that further contextualizes the research findings - Written by a world-leading authority in molecular ecology and evolution

John C. Avise is a Distinguished Professor at the University of California at Irvine, and an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. His research utilizes molecular markers to study the ecology and evolution of wild animals on topics ranging from genetic parentage and mating behaviors to gene flow, hybridization, phylogeography, speciation, and phylogeny. He has published more than 340 scientific articles and 25 books on a wide variety of evolutionary genetic topics.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Avise, John C.

Leseproben

Chapter 2

Sunfishes (Centrarchidae)

Native to North America, sunfishes in the family Centrarchidae are an abundant and conspicuous element of the continent’s ichthyofauna. This chapter describes genetic research on topics ranging from intraspecific geographic variation in bluegills to the evolutionary consequences of introgression in hybrid-swarming basses, to speciational histories of this endemic taxonomic group, to genetic assessments of paternity and maternity in several of these nest-tending species.

Keywords

; ; genetic parentage; hybridization; introgression; protein electrophoresis; microsatellite loci; phylogenetics; speciation; phyletic gradualism; punctuated equilibrium; heterozygosity; population structure; hybrid swarm

Introduction

JCA’s baccalaureate degree (from the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources in 1970) was in Fisheries Biology and Management. Thus, it should come as no surprise that much of his subsequent research in molecular ecology and evolution over the ensuing decades has been on fishes. His Master’s degree (from the University of Texas in 1971) involved an examination of genetic variability in Mexican cavefishes (see Chapter 4), and his dissertation work for Ph.D. (from the University of California at Davis in 1975) entailed a comparison of molecular evolutionary rates in rapidly speciating minnows (Cyprinidae) versus slower speciating sunfishes (Centrarchidae). The North American sunfishes have long been of special research interest in the JCA laboratory, because of their diverse nature (with about 25 species), their usual abundance in native waterways, their interesting ecologies that include nest-building habits and large clutches that almost beg for molecular appraisals of genetic parentage, and their natural proclivity to hybridize both in natural and contrived settings. The abstracts in this chapter reflect JCA’s longstanding fascination with sunfishes, some of his favorite creatures. Several of the earliest papers in this series were conducted while JCA was a laboratory technician at the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory in South Carolina, from 1971 to 1973. But his special interest in the beautiful centrarchid species has persisted to the present day.

Biochemical genetics of sunfish I. Geographic variation and subspecific intergradation in the bluegill,

Avise, J.C. and M.H. Smith. 1974. Biochemical genetics of sunfish I. Geographic variation and subspecific intergradation in the bluegill, . 28:42–56.

Anecdote or Backdrop

Abstract

Electrophoretic variation in proteins encoded by 15 genetic loci was analyzed in 2415 bluegill () representing 47 populations from 7 southern states. Populations from the Florida peninsula and southeastern Georgia () differ in allelic composition at several loci from populations in central and western Georgia west to Texas (), yielding coefficients of genetic similarity below the range typifying continuously distributed conspecific populations in other vertebrates, but quite comparable to previous reports for various semispecies pairs. Within several river drainages in South Carolina and Georgia, bluegill populations are segregating for alleles from both subspecies. A closer examination of genotypic classes in a large population from the intergrade zone confirms that the two subspecies are backcrossing and are apparently fully interfertile. The high correlation of allele frequencies across locales in the hybrid zone is compatible with the hypothesis that the alleles are behaving as neutral markers of intergradation. The pattern of introgression evidences a secondary meeting of allopatrically evolved races. Since populations of are largely confined to the Florida peninsula, it is likely that Pleistocene rises in sea level were important in their original isolation from . Populations of bluegill within reservoirs are generally homogeneous for frequencies of common alleles at polymorphic loci, but there is significant heterogeneity in allele frequencies between reservoirs within a drainage. The magnitude of this variance is greatest in the intergrade populations of the Savannah River basin and is far less in populations of . The bluegill examined may be characterized by three areas of relative genetic uniformity: Florida populations of , intergrade populations, and populations of to the west.

Addendum

Figure 2.1 Bluegill, .

Biochemical genetics of sunfish II. Genic similarity between hybridizing species

Avise, J.C. and M.H. Smith. 1974. Biochemical genetics of sunfish II. Genic similarity between hybridizing species. 108:458–472.

Anecdote or Backdrop

Abstract

Electrophoretic variation in proteins encoded by 18 genetic loci was examined in 1099 specimens of 10 species of sunfish (), a group renowned for its ability to hybridize both in the laboratory and in nature. Populations belonging to the same species show very little genic differentiation over considerable geographic ranges. Species pairs showed major differences in allelic composition at an average of about one-half of their loci, although the range is considerable. Thus, despite their ability to hybridize to the F1 generation, species have very different gene pools. This indicates that close genic similarity is not a necessary corollary of hybridizing propensity in these fishes.

Addendum

.

Biochemical genetics of sunfish IV. Relationships of centrarchid genera

Avise, J.C., D.O. Straney, and M.H. Smith. 1977. Biochemical genetics of sunfish IV. Relationships of centrarchid genera. 1977:250–258.

Anecdote or Backdrop

Abstract

We examined electrophoretic variation in proteins encoded by 11–14 loci in species representing all 9 genera of Centrarchidae. A dendrogram based on allozyme information is compared to postulated relationships of sunfish genera based on general and specific morphologies, and on hybridizing propensity. The allozyme information correlates most strongly with that derived from a detailed study of the acoustico-lateralis system by Branson and Moore. Similarities between the two sets of data are observed (i) in the clustering together of species of , (ii) in the clustering of with , (iii) in the placement of with , and (iv) in the very distant relationship of to the other centrarchid genera. Levels of genetic similarity () between centrarchid genera are compared to previously published levels of similarity between congeneric species of , subspecies of , and geographic populations within the subspecies and . Mean values of are as follows: between genera, =0.29; between...