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Title: Steep, coincident, and concordant clines in mitochondrial and nuclear‐encoded genes in a hybrid zone between subspecies of Atlantic killifish, Fundulus heteroclitus
Abstract

Steep genetic clines resulting from recent secondary contact between previously isolated taxa can either gradually erode over time or be stabilized by factors such as ecological selection or selection against hybrids. We used patterns of variation in 30 nuclear and two mitochondrialSNPs to examine the factors that could be involved in stabilizing clines across a hybrid zone between two subspecies of the Atlantic killifish,Fundulus heteroclitus. Increased heterozygote deficit and cytonuclear disequilibrium in populations near the center of the mtDNAcline suggest that some form of reproductive isolation such as assortative mating or selection against hybrids may be acting in this hybrid zone. However, only a small number of loci exhibited these signatures, suggesting locus‐specific, rather than genomewide, factors. Fourteen of the 32 loci surveyed had cline widths inconsistent with neutral expectations, with twoSNPs in the mitochondrial genome exhibiting the steepest clines. Seven of the 12 putatively non‐neutral nuclear clines were forSNPs in genes related to oxidative metabolism. Among these putatively non‐neutral nuclear clines,SNPs in two nuclear‐encoded mitochondrial genes (SLC25A3 andHDDC2), as well asSNPs in the myoglobin, 40S ribosomal protein S17, and actin‐bindingLIMprotein genes, had clines that were coincident and concordant with the mitochondrial clines. When hybrid index was calculated using this subset of loci, the frequency distribution of hybrid indices for a population located at the mtDNAcline center was non‐unimodal, suggesting selection against advanced‐generation hybrids, possibly due to effects on processes involved in oxidative metabolism.

 
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PAR ID:
10018216
Author(s) / Creator(s):
 ;  ;  
Publisher / Repository:
Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Ecology and Evolution
Volume:
6
Issue:
16
ISSN:
2045-7758
Format(s):
Medium: X Size: p. 5771-5787
Size(s):
p. 5771-5787
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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