Genetic structure of hybrid mussel populations in the west of Ireland: two hypotheses revisited |
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Authors: | Brian Coghlan Elizabeth Gosling |
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Institution: | (1) Molecular Ecology Research Group, Department of Life Sciences, Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, Dublin Road, Galway, Ireland |
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Abstract: | In Ireland, mussels on exposed rocky shores constitute an interbreeding mixture of two forms of mussels, the blue mussel,
Mytilus edulis, and the Mediterranean mussel, M. galloprovincialis. Results from an Irish study in the 1980s, using partially diagnostic allozyme markers, indicated that mussels higher up
the shore were more galloprovincialis-like than those lower down. In this study we set out to test two hypotheses: (a) recruits arriving on the shore are composed
of genetically distinct cohorts that settle preferentially at different levels on the shore, and maintain genetic distinctiveness
into adulthood; (b) recruits are genetically homogeneous, but once settled they diverge genetically over time, due to within-habitat
site specific-selection. The diagnostic Me 15/16 DNA marker was used to analyse the genetic composition of newly-settled spat recruiting to artificial substrates, which were
placed at two-week intervals from May–October 2002, on the mid- and low shore areas of two exposed sites in Galway Bay. Adult
mussels were also collected on each sampling date. Results did not support the preferential settlement hypothesis, i.e., the
genetic composition of primary settlers (≤ 500 μm) was similar between tidal heights and shores. Neither was there evidence
of post settlement selective mortality, as adults were genetically similar to settling spat. In spat and adults the frequency
of the M. galloprovincialis allele was high (0.56–0.80), due to high frequencies of M. galloprovincialis (> 37%) and hybrid (> 33%) genotypes, and correspondingly low frequencies of the M. edulis genotype (< 11%). Adult mussels from a nearby sheltered estuarine site, while significantly different to exposed shore mussels,
still had low frequencies of the M. edulis genotype (< 17%), indicating no apparent advantage for the genotype in this environment. There are indications that the genetic
composition of mussels may be changing on the Atlantic coasts of Ireland. |
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