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1. Molecular Evolution of Ecological Specialisation: Genomic Insights from the Diversification of Murine Rodents

   https://doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evab103  

   Roycroft, Emily; Achmadi, Anang; Callahan, Colin M; Esselstyn, Jacob A; Good, Jeffrey M; Moussalli, Adnan; Rowe, Kevin C (January 2021, Genome Biology and Evolution)

   Alba, Mar (Ed.)

   Abstract Adaptive radiations are characterised by the diversification and ecological differentiation of species, and replicated cases of this process provide natural experiments for understanding the repeatability and pace of molecular evolution. During adaptive radiation, genes related to ecological specialisation may be subject to recurrent positive directional selection. However, it is not clear to what extent patterns of lineage-specific ecological specialisation (including phenotypic convergence) are correlated with shared signatures of molecular evolution. To test this, we sequenced whole exomes from a phylogenetically dispersed sample of 38 murine rodent species, a group characterised by multiple, nested adaptive radiations comprising extensive ecological and phenotypic diversity. We found that genes associated with immunity, reproduction, diet, digestion and taste have been subject to pervasive positive selection during the diversification of murine rodents. We also found a significant correlation between genome-wide positive selection and dietary specialisation, with a higher proportion of positively selected codon sites in derived dietary forms (i.e. carnivores and herbivores) than in ancestral forms (i.e. omnivores). Despite striking convergent evolution of skull morphology and dentition in two distantly related worm-eating specialists, we did not detect more genes with shared signatures of positive or relaxed selection than in a non-convergent species comparison. While a small number of the genes we detected can be incidentally linked to craniofacial morphology or diet, protein-coding regions are unlikely to be the primary genetic basis of this complex convergent phenotype. Our results suggest a link between positive selection and derived ecological phenotypes, and highlight specific genes and general functional categories that may have played an integral role in the extensive and rapid diversification of murine rodents. 

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2. Genomic signatures of convergent shifts to plunge-diving behavior in birds

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-05359-z  

   Eliason, Chad M.; Mellenthin, Lauren E.; Hains, Taylor; McCullough, Jenna M.; Pirro, Stacy; Andersen, Michael J.; Hackett, Shannon J. (October 2023, Communications Biology)

   Abstract Understanding the genetic basis of convergence at broad phylogenetic scales remains a key challenge in biology. Kingfishers (Aves: Alcedinidae) are a cosmopolitan avian radiation with diverse colors, diets, and feeding behaviors—including the archetypal plunge-dive into water. Given the sensory and locomotor challenges associated with air-water transitions, kingfishers offer a powerful opportunity to explore the effects of convergent behaviors on the evolution of genomes and phenotypes, as well as direct comparisons between continental and island lineages. Here, we use whole-genome sequencing of 30 diverse kingfisher species to identify the genomic signatures associated with convergent feeding behaviors. We show that species with smaller ranges (i.e., on islands) have experienced stronger demographic fluctuations than those on continents, and that these differences have influenced the dynamics of molecular evolution. Comparative genomic analyses reveal positive selection and genomic convergence in brain and dietary genes in plunge-divers. These findings enhance our understanding of the connections between genotype and phenotype in a diverse avian radiation. 

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3. Convergent selection of a WD40 protein that enhances grain yield in maize and rice

   https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abg7985  

   Chen, Wenkang; Chen, Lu; Zhang, Xuan; Yang, Ning; Guo, Jianghua; Wang, Min; Ji, Shenghui; Zhao, Xiangyu; Yin, Pengfei; Cai, Lichun; et al (March 2022, Science)

   INTRODUCTION During the independent process of cereal evolution, many trait shifts appear to have been under convergent selection to meet the specific needs of humans. Identification of convergently selected genes across cereals could help to clarify the evolution of crop species and to accelerate breeding programs. In the past several decades, researchers have debated whether convergent phenotypic selection in distinct lineages is driven by conserved molecular changes or by diverse molecular pathways. Two of the most economically important crops, maize and rice, display some conserved phenotypic shifts—including loss of seed dispersal, decreased seed dormancy, and increased grain number during evolution—even though they experienced independent selection. Hence, maize and rice can serve as an excellent system for understanding the extent of convergent selection among cereals. RATIONALE Despite the identification of a few convergently selected genes, our understanding of the extent of molecular convergence on a genome-wide scale between maize and rice is very limited. To learn how often selection acts on orthologous genes, we investigated the functions and molecular evolution of the grain yield quantitative trait locus KRN2 in maize and its rice ortholog OsKRN2 . We also identified convergently selected genes on a genome-wide scale in maize and rice, using two large datasets. RESULTS We identified a selected gene, KRN2 ( kernel row number2 ), that differs between domesticated maize and its wild ancestor, teosinte. This gene underlies a major quantitative trait locus for kernel row number in maize. Selection in the noncoding upstream regions resulted in a reduction of KRN2 expression and an increased grain number through an increase in kernel rows. The rice ortholog, OsKRN2 , also underwent selection and negatively regulates grain number via control of secondary panicle branches. These orthologs encode WD40 proteins and function synergistically with a gene of unknown function, DUF1644, which suggests that a conserved protein interaction controls grain number in maize and rice. Field tests show that knockout of KRN2 in maize or OsKRN2 in rice increased grain yield by ~10% and ~8%, respectively, with no apparent trade-off in other agronomic traits. This suggests potential applications of KRN2 and its orthologs for crop improvement. On a genome-wide scale, we identified a set of 490 orthologous genes that underwent convergent selection during maize and rice evolution, including KRN2/OsKRN2 . We found that the convergently selected orthologous genes appear to be significantly enriched in two specific pathways in both maize and rice: starch and sucrose metabolism, and biosynthesis of cofactors. A deep analysis of convergently selected genes in the starch metabolic pathway indicates that the degree of genetic convergence via convergent selection is related to the conservation and complexity of the gene network for a given selection. CONCLUSION Our findings show that common phenotypic shifts during maize and rice evolution acting on conserved genes are driven at least in part by convergent selection, which in maize and rice likely occurred both during and after domestication. We provide evolutionary and functional evidence on the convergent selection of KRN2/OsKRN2 for grain number between maize and rice. We further found that a complete loss-of-function allele of KRN2/OsKRN2 increased grain yield without an apparent negative impact on other agronomic traits. Exploring the role of KRN2/OsKRN2 and other convergently selected genes across the cereals could provide new opportunities to enhance the production of other global crops. Shared selected orthologous genes in maize and rice for convergent phenotypic shifts during domestication and improvement. By comparing 3163 selected genes in maize and 18,755 selected genes in rice, we identified 490 orthologous gene pairs, including KRN2 and its rice ortholog OsKRN2 , as having been convergently selected. Knockout of KRN2 in maize or OsKRN2 in rice increased grain yield by increasing kernel rows and secondary panicle branches, respectively. 

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4. Few Fixed Variants between Trophic Specialist Pupfish Species Reveal Candidate Cis -Regulatory Alleles Underlying Rapid Craniofacial Divergence

   https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaa218  

   McGirr, Joseph A; Martin, Christopher H (September 2020, Molecular Biology and Evolution)

   Wittkopp, Patricia (Ed.)

   Abstract Investigating closely related species that rapidly evolved divergent feeding morphology is a powerful approach to identify genetic variation underlying variation in complex traits. This can also lead to the discovery of novel candidate genes influencing natural and clinical variation in human craniofacial phenotypes. We combined whole-genome resequencing of 258 individuals with 50 transcriptomes to identify candidate cis-acting genetic variation underlying rapidly evolving craniofacial phenotypes within an adaptive radiation of Cyprinodon pupfishes. This radiation consists of a dietary generalist species and two derived trophic niche specialists—a molluscivore and a scale-eating species. Despite extensive morphological divergence, these species only diverged 10 kya and produce fertile hybrids in the laboratory. Out of 9.3 million genome-wide SNPs and 80,012 structural variants, we found very few alleles fixed between species—only 157 SNPs and 87 deletions. Comparing gene expression across 38 purebred F1 offspring sampled at three early developmental stages, we identified 17 fixed variants within 10 kb of 12 genes that were highly differentially expressed between species. By measuring allele-specific expression in F1 hybrids from multiple crosses, we found that the majority of expression divergence between species was explained by trans-regulatory mechanisms. We also found strong evidence for two cis-regulatory alleles affecting expression divergence of two genes with putative effects on skeletal development (dync2li1 and pycr3). These results suggest that SNPs and structural variants contribute to the evolution of novel traits and highlight the utility of the San Salvador Island pupfish system as an evolutionary model for craniofacial development. 

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5. Selection on standing genetic variation mediates convergent evolution in extremophile fish

   https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.17081  

   Ryan, Kara; Greenway, Ryan; Landers, Jake; Arias‐Rodriguez, Lenin; Tobler, Michael; Kelley, Joanna L. (August 2023, Molecular Ecology)

   Abstract Hydrogen sulfide is a toxic gas that disrupts numerous biological processes, including energy production in the mitochondria, yet fish in thePoecilia mexicanaspecies complex have independently evolved sulfide tolerance several times. Despite clear evidence for convergence at the phenotypic level in these fishes, it is unclear if the repeated evolution of hydrogen sulfide tolerance is the result of similar genomic changes. To address this gap, we used a targeted capture approach to sequence genes associated with sulfide processes and toxicity from five sulfidic and five nonsulfidic populations in the species complex. By comparing sequence variation in candidate genes to a reference set, we identified similar population structure and differentiation, suggesting that patterns of variation in most genes associated with sulfide processes and toxicity are due to demographic history and not selection. But the presence of tree discordance for a subset of genes suggests that several loci are evolving divergently between ecotypes. We identified two differentiation outlier genes that are associated with sulfide detoxification in the mitochondria that have signatures of selection in all five sulfidic populations. Further investigation into these regions identified long, shared haplotypes among sulfidic populations. Together, these results reveal that selection on standing genetic variation in putatively adaptive genes may be driving phenotypic convergence in this species complex. 

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