High fusibility and chimera prevalence in a worldwide invasive colonial ascidian
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1
Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Statistics, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Spain
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2
Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBIO), Spain
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3
Center for Advanced Studies of Blanes, Superior Council of Scientific Investigations, Spain
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4
Institute of Marine Sciences (ISMAR), Italy
The formation of chimeras after colony fusion has been hypothesized to favour invasion success and resilience to multiple stressors in modular organisms. We studied prevalence of chimerism and performed fusion experiments in Mediterranean populations of the worldwide invasive colonial ascidian Didemnum vexillum. We analysed single zooids by whole genome amplification (WGA) and genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) and analysed >2,000 loci. In the prevalence study, we analysed five fragments of each of nine colonies growing in oyster aquaculture facilities at the Fangar Bay (Ebro Delta, Spain. The percentage of shared genotypes (PSG) clearly identified samples with the same genotype (96.8± 0.14% identical loci) and with different genotypes (48.07±0.07%). We found 44% chimeras. The fusion experiment was carried out at the Venetian Lagoon (Italy). A total of 45 pairs (15 intra- and 30 intercolony pairs) were assayed but one or both fragments regressed and died in ~50% of the pairs. Among those that survived for the length of the experiment (30 d), 100% isogeneic and 31% allogeneic pairs fused. Fusion was unlinked to global genetic relatedness. We did not detect any locus directly involved in allorecognition, however, the existence of an histocompatibility mechanism cannot be discarded. We conclude that chimerism occurs frequently in Mediterranean populations of D. vexillum and may be an important factor to enhance genetic diversity and promote its successful expansion.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Margarita Fernandez (IRTA) and Víctor Ordóñez for logistic help in the Ebro Delta. Carles Bori from granting access to his oyster culture facility. Marco Sigovini and Irene Guarnieri (ISMAR/CNR) provided invaluable help during the experiments in Venice. This research was funded by project PopCOmics (TM2017-88080) from the Spanish Government. This is a contribution from the Consolidated Research Group “Benthic Biology and Ecology” SGR2017-1120 (Catalan Government).
Keywords:
invasive species,
Chimera,
Fusion experiment,
Genomics,
Whole genome amplification (WGA)
Conference:
XX Iberian Symposium on Marine Biology Studies (SIEBM XX) , Braga, Portugal, 9 Sep - 12 Sep, 2019.
Presentation Type:
Poster Presentation
Topic:
Global Change, Invasive Species and Conservation
Citation:
Pascual
M,
Casso
M,
Tagliapetra
D and
Turon
X
(2019). High fusibility and chimera prevalence in a worldwide invasive colonial ascidian.
Front. Mar. Sci.
Conference Abstract:
XX Iberian Symposium on Marine Biology Studies (SIEBM XX) .
doi: 10.3389/conf.fmars.2019.08.00100
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Received:
14 May 2019;
Published Online:
27 Sep 2019.
*
Correspondence:
Mx. Marta Pascual, Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Statistics, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, martapascual@ub.edu