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Rapid evolution of genome-wide gene expression and plasticity during saline to freshwater invasions by the copepod Eurytemora affinis species complex
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  • Marijan Posavi,
  • Davorka Gulisija,
  • James Munro,
  • Joana Carneiro da Silva,
  • Carol Eunmi Lee
Marijan Posavi
University of Wisconsin Madison

Corresponding Author:posavi28@gmail.com

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Davorka Gulisija
University of New Mexico
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James Munro
University of Maryland School of Medicine
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Joana Carneiro da Silva
University of Maryland School of Medicine
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Carol Eunmi Lee
University of Wisconsin Madison
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Abstract

Saline migrants into freshwater habitats constitute among the most destructive invaders in aquatic ecosystems throughout the globe. However, evolutionary and physiological mechanisms underlying such habitat transitions remain poorly understood. To explore mechanisms of freshwater adaptation and distinguish between adaptive (evolutionary) and acclimatory (plastic) responses to salinity change, we examined genome-wide patterns of gene expression between ancestral saline and derived freshwater populations of the Eurytemora affinis species complex, reared under two different common-garden conditions (0 vs. 15 PSU). We found that evolutionary shifts in gene expression (between saline and freshwater inbred lines) showed far greater changes and were more widespread than acclimatory responses to salinity (0 vs. 15 PSU). Most notably, many genes showing evolutionary shifts in gene expression across the salinity boundary were associated with ion transport function, with inorganic cation transmembrane transport forming the largest Gene Ontology category. Of particular interest was the sodium transporter, the Na+/H+ antiporter (NHA) gene family, which was discovered in animals relatively recently. A few key ion regulatory genes, such as NHA paralog #7, demonstrated concordant evolutionary and plastic shifts in gene expression, suggesting the evolution of ion transporter plasticity and function during rapid invasions into novel salinities. Moreover, freshwater invasions were associated with the evolution of reduced plasticity in the freshwater population, again for the same key ion transporters, consistent with the predicted evolution of canalization following adaptation to stressful conditions. Our results have important implications for understanding invasion mechanisms by some of the most widespread invaders in aquatic habitats.
27 Jun 2020Submitted to Molecular Ecology
28 Jun 2020Reviewer(s) Assigned
20 Jul 2020Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
06 Aug 2020Editorial Decision: Revise Minor
18 Sep 2020Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
18 Sep 20201st Revision Received
01 Oct 2020Editorial Decision: Accept
Dec 2020Published in Molecular Ecology volume 29 issue 24 on pages 4835-4856. 10.1111/mec.15681