Population genetics of the invasive ascidian Botryllus schlosseri from South American coasts

Abstract

MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 412:85-92 (2010) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps08688 Population genetics of the invasive ascidian Botryllus schlosseri from South American coasts Rachel Ben-Shlomo1,*,**, Eitan Reem2,3,**, Jacob Douek3, Baruch Rinkevich3 1Department of Biology, Faculty of Science and Science Education, University of Haifa – Oranim, Tivon 36006, Israel 2Department of Evolutionary and Environmental Biology, Faculty of Science and Science Education, University of Haifa, Haifa 31905, Israel 3Israel Oceanography and Limnological Research, National Institute of Oceanography, Tel Shikmona, PO Box 8030, Haifa 31080, Israel *Email: [e-mail]**These authors contributed equally to this article ABSTRACT: The cosmopolitan colonial ascidian Botryllus schlosseri, most likely a Mediterranean Sea and European Atlantic species, is one of the known human-mediated invaders of coastal marine communities. Whereas numerous populations spreading along the Northern Hemisphere coasts have been intensively studied for various population genetics parameters, the data available on the Southern Hemisphere populations is sporadic, based on few and erratic field collections. By using 5 microsatellite loci, we studied gene diversity and possible introduction routes of 4 B. schlosseri populations on the east and west South American coasts. A Hardy-Weinberg exact test for all loci and all populations demonstrated a highly significant heterozygote deficiency. Analyses revealed high gene diversity in the Chilean populations of the west coast, whereas the maximal number of alleles per locus, the highest percentages of natural chimeras and private alleles and the highest levels of variability were observed in the Argentinean population of the east coast. Results further suggest that each of the Chilean populations was founded by a few genotypes. Comparing the genetic identities of South and North American B. schlosseri populations showed extensive dissimilarities, with hardly any common alleles shared, suggesting distinct B. schlosseri clades based on molecular biology data. KEY WORDS: Botryllus schlosseri · Gene diversity · Microsatellite · Founder genotype · Anthropogenic invasion Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Ben-Shlomo R, Reem E, Douek J, Rinkevich B (2010) Population genetics of the invasive ascidian Botryllus schlosseri from South American coasts. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 412:85-92. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps08688 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 412. Online publication date: August 18, 2010 Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599 Copyright © 2010 Inter-Research.