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Heuristic Mining of Hierarchical Genotypes and Accessory Genome Loci in Bacterial Populations
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Invasive genotypes are opportunistic specialists not general purpose genotypes.
Devin M Drown1, Edward P Levri2, Mark F Dybdahl1
1School of Biological Sciences, Washington State University Pullman, WA, USA.
Evolutionary Applications
|January 9, 2015
Summary
Invasive freshwater snails (Potamopyrgus antipodarum) showed increased survival and reproduction in higher salinities. Invasive lineages exhibited opportunistic specialist traits, differing from generalist predictions.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Invasive Species Biology
Background:
- Understanding plasticity in fitness-related traits is crucial for invasive species.
- Invasive species may exhibit general-purpose genotypes or specialized adaptations.
- Salinity is a key environmental factor influencing freshwater organisms' fitness.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the plasticity of life-history traits between invasive and ancestral genotypes of Potamopyrgus antipodarum.
- To investigate the role of salinity tolerance and niche breadth in the success of invasive species.
- To test the general-purpose genotype hypothesis in the context of invasive species.
Main Methods:
- Studied the invasive freshwater snail Potamopyrgus antipodarum.
- Compared plasticity of life-history traits in invasive versus ancestral-range genotypes.
- Utilized a statistical method to quantify differences in reaction norm shapes under varying salinity.
Main Results:
- Invasive lineages demonstrated enhanced survival and reproduction at higher salinities.
- Invasive lineages outperformed ancestral ones in two reproduction-related traits.
- Invasive lineages showed a salinity performance optimum shifted to higher levels with narrower niche breadth for growth traits.
Conclusions:
- Invasive Potamopyrgus antipodarum lineages are not generalists but opportunistic specialists.
- Plasticity in growth traits, with a shifted optimum and narrower niche, contributes to invasive success.
- Findings challenge the general-purpose genotype hypothesis for this invasive species.
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