Open AccessFirst insight of genetic diversity, phylogeographic relationships, and population structure of marine sponge Chondrosia reniformis from the eastern and western Mediterranean coasts of Tunisia
Author(s) -
Moussa Maha,
Choulak Sarra,
RhoumaChatti Soumaya,
Chatti Noureddine,
Said Khaled
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
ecology and evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.17
H-Index - 63
ISSN - 2045-7758
DOI - 10.1002/ece3.8494
Subject(s) - phylogeography , biology , biological dispersal , genetic diversity , mediterranean climate , ecology , genetic structure , population , mediterranean sea , nucleotide diversity , gene flow , zoology , evolutionary biology , haplotype , genetic variation , phylogenetics , genetics , allele , gene , demography , sociology
Abstract Despite the strategic localization of Tunisia in the Mediterranean Sea, no phylogeographic study on sponges has been investigated along its shores. The demosponge Chondrosia reniformis , descript only morphologically along Tunisian coasts, was chosen to estimate the influence of natural oceanographic and biogeographic barriers on its genetic differentiation and its Phylogeography. The cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene was amplified and analyzed for 70 Mediterranean Chondrosia reniformis , collected from eight localities in Tunisia. Polymorphism results revealed high values of haplotype diversity ( H d ) and very low nucleotide diversity ( π ). Thus, these results suggest that our sponge populations of C . reniformis may have undergone a bottleneck followed by rapid demographic expansion. This suggestion is strongly confirmed by the results of neutrality tests and “ mismatch distribution . ” The important number of haplotypes between localities and the high genetic differentiation ( F st ranged from 0.590 to 0.788) of the current C . reniformis populations could be maintained by the limited gene flow N m (0.10–0.18). Both haplotype Network and the biogeographic analysis showed a structured distribution according to the geographic origin. C . reniformis populations are subdivided into two major clades: Western and Eastern Mediterranean. This pattern seems to be associated with the well‐known discontinuous biogeographic area: the Siculo‐Tunisian Strait, which separates two water bodies circulating with different hydrological, physical, and chemical characteristics. The short dispersal of pelagic larvae of C . reniformis and the marine bio‐geographic barrier created high differentiation among populations. Additionally, it is noteworthy to mention that the “Mahres/Kerkennah” group diverged from Eastern groups in a single sub‐clade. This result was expected, the region Mahres/Kerkennah, presented a particular marine environment.