Ecological differentiation of cryptic species within an asexual protist morphospecies: a case study of filamentous green alga Klebsormidium (Streptophyta)
Language English Country United States Media print-electronic
Document type Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
PubMed
23648118
DOI
10.1111/jeu.12040
Knihovny.cz E-resources
- Keywords
- Algae, cryptic diversity, ecotype, speciation, species concept,
- MeSH
- Ecology * MeSH
- Phylogeny MeSH
- Genetic Variation genetics MeSH
- DNA, Ribosomal genetics MeSH
- Streptophyta classification genetics MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
- Names of Substances
- DNA, Ribosomal MeSH
Taxa of microbial eukaryotes defined on morphological basis display a large degree of genetic diversity, implying the existence of numerous cryptic species. However, it has been postulated that genetic diversity merely mirrors accumulation of neutral mutations. As a case taxon to study cryptic diversity in protists, we used a widely distributed filamentous genus, Klebsormidium, specifically the lineage E (K. flaccidum/K. nitens complex) containing a number of morphologically similar strains. Fourteen clades were recognized in the phylogenetic analysis based on a concatenated ITS rDNA + rbcL data set of more than 70 strains. The results of inferred character evolution indicated the existence of phylogenetic signal in at least two phenotypic characters (production of hydro-repellent filaments and morphology of zoosporangia). Moreover, the lineages recovered exhibited strong ecological preferences to one of the three habitat types: natural subaerial substrata, artificial subaerial substrata, and aquatic habitats. We interpret these results as evidence of existence of a high number of cryptic species within the single morphospecies. We consider that the permanent existence of genetically and ecologically well-defined cryptic species is enabled by the mechanism of selective sweep.
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