Title
Stranded alone: The first reported Peruvian population of Agarophyton chilensis is a single-male's clone
Date Issued
01 August 2019
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Publisher(s)
Elsevier B.V.
Abstract
Gracilariales, a red macroalgal order, is considered one of the top ten most invasive algal taxa. While Agarophyton vermiculophyllum is a well known example of an algal invader worldwide, its congeneric species A. chilensis has mainly remained within its original distribution range for thousands of years, and was only engaged in a few dispersal journeys to arrive from New Zealand to Chile over 19,000 years ago. Nowadays, A. chilensis is intensively farmed along the Chilean coast and the establishment of new populations has mostly been due to intentional/planned cultivation practices. No other source of range expansion has ever been reported, since its first description. However, in 2014 it was sighted for the first time at the docking of a small artisanal port in Peru, which nowadays represents its northernmost population. We genetically assessed 60 specimens taken from Peru in 2015 and 2017, using two different types of molecular markers (the ribosomal Internal Transcribed Spacer 2, ITS2 and six nuclear microsatellites). Altogether, our results suggest the population in Perú to be an unattached, vegetative, single male's clonal population. This population has sustained itself successfully, reproducing asexually through fragmentation, for at least four consecutive years and seems to have expanded in the area. The ITS2 sequences from these individuals corresponds all to one haplotype, the one ubiquitous among populations from Chile, the eastern coast of New Zealand and the Chatham Islands, not allowing to narrow down the potential area of origin of the Peruvian population. Based on first the allelic frequencies of six microsatellite loci estimated for 28 Chilean and five loci for seven New Zealander populations and second the analyses of Bayesian clustering, we propose the natural or unintentional anthropogenic introduction of a single male's thallus from Chile to be the source of the Peruvian population.
Volume
41
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Biología marina, Biología de agua dulce, Limnología Ingeniería marina, naves
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85065073731
Source
Algal Research
ISSN of the container
22119264
DOI of the container
10.1016/j.algal.2019.101527
Source funding
Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico, Tecnológico y de Innovación Tecnológica
Sponsor(s)
For logistic and financial support in sample collections in Perú, we thank G. Montecinos, S. Faugeron, P.L. Gil Kodaka, and the FONDECYT Regular Grant #1170541 awarded to M.-L. Guillemin. Sampling was made with the help of the FONDECYT Regular Grant #1160930 awarded to S. Faugeron. No conflicts, informed consent, human or animal rights applicable. V.R. did data analysis, prepared the figure and table; V.R. and M-L.G. wrote the main manuscript text; S.M. generated molecular data; J.C.Z.R and N.A. collected and analyzed samples as well as site descriptive information. All authors critically reviewed and approved the manuscript's final version prior submission. The authors declare no competing interests. This work was supported by the Chilean FONDECYT Regular Grant #1170541 awarded to M-L. Guillemin and #1160930 awarded to S. Faugeron. VR NA and MLG design the study; NA and JCZ provided study material; SM generated all molecular data sets; VR and MLG analyzed and interpreted the data, VM drafted the article and all authors revised and approved the final manuscript. The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this article.
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