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Deciphering the origin of mito‐nuclear discordance in two sibling caddisfly species
Author(s) -
Weigand Hannah,
Weiss Martina,
Cai Huimin,
Li Yongping,
Yu Lili,
Zhang Christine,
Leese Florian
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
molecular ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.619
H-Index - 225
eISSN - 1365-294X
pISSN - 0962-1083
DOI - 10.1111/mec.14292
Subject(s) - biology , introgression , caddisfly , nuclear gene , evolutionary biology , dna barcoding , mitochondrial dna , gene flow , phylogenetic tree , coalescent theory , nuclear dna , genetics , ecology , gene , genetic variation , larva
An increasing number of phylogenetic studies have reported discordances among nuclear and mitochondrial markers. These discrepancies are highly relevant to widely used biodiversity assessment approaches, such as DNA barcoding, that rely almost exclusively on mitochondrial markers. Although the theoretical causes of mito‐nuclear discordances are well understood, it is often extremely challenging to determine the principal underlying factor in a given study system. In this study, we uncovered significant mito‐nuclear discordances in a pair of sibling caddisfly species. Application of genome sequencing, dd RAD and DNA barcoding revealed ongoing hybridization, as well as historical hybridization in Pleistocene refugia, leading us to identify introgression as the ultimate cause of the observed discordance pattern. Our novel genomic data, the discovery of a European‐wide hybrid zone and the availability of established techniques for laboratory breeding make this species pair an ideal model system for studying species boundaries with ongoing gene flow.