Molecular Ecology最新文献

{"title":"Multiple Origins or Widespread Gene Flow in Agricultural Fields? Regional Population Genomics of Herbicide Resistance in Bromus tectorum","authors":"Victor H. V. Ribeiro,&nbsp;Joseph Gallagher,&nbsp;Carol Mallory-Smith,&nbsp;Judit Barroso,&nbsp;Caio A. C. G. Brunharo","doi":"10.1111/mec.17791","DOIUrl":"10.1111/mec.17791","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The repeated evolution of herbicide resistance in agriculture provides an unprecedented opportunity to understand how organisms rapidly respond to strong anthropogenic-driven selection pressure. We recently identified agricultural populations of the grass species <i>Bromus tectorum</i> L. with resistance to multiple herbicides. To understand the evolutionary origins and spread of resistance, we investigated the resistance mechanisms to acetolactate synthase (ALS) inhibitors and photosystem II inhibitors, two widely used herbicide modes of action, in 49 <i>B. tectorum</i> populations. We assessed the genetic diversity, structure and relatedness in a subset of 21 populations. Resistance to ALS inhibitors was associated with multiple nonsynonymous mutations in <i>ALS</i>, the target site gene, despite the relatively small geographic region where populations originated, suggesting ALS inhibitor resistance evolution occurred multiple times in the region. We also found evidence that mechanisms not related to the target site evolved and were common in the populations studied. Resistance to photosystem II inhibitors was confirmed in two populations and was conferred by nonsynonymous mutations in the plastid gene <i>psbA</i>. Population genomics analyses suggested that ALS resistance in most populations, at the nucleotide level, spread via gene flow, except for one population where we found evidence that Pro-197-His mutations may have evolved in three separate events. Our results suggest that both gene flow via pollen and/or seed dispersal and multiple local evolutionary events were involved in the spread of herbicide-resistant <i>B. tectorum</i>. Our results provide an empirical example of the rapid repeated evolution of a trait under strong anthropogenic selection and elucidate the evolutionary origins of herbicide resistance in a plant species of agricultural importance.</p>","PeriodicalId":210,"journal":{"name":"Molecular Ecology","volume":"34 11","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-05-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/mec.17791","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143958505","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Putting Structural Variants Into Practice: The Role of Chromosomal Inversions in the Management of Marine Environments.","authors":"Nadja M Schneller, Jan M Strugnell, Matt A Field, Kerstin Johannesson, Ira Cooke","doi":"10.1111/mec.17776","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.17776","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Major threats to marine species and ecosystems include overfishing, invasive species, pollution and climate change. The changing climate not only imposes direct threats through the impacts of severe marine heatwaves, cyclones and ocean acidification but also complicates fisheries and invasive species management by driving species range shifts. The dynamic nature of these threats means that the future of our oceans will depend on the ability of species to adapt. This has led to calls for genetic interventions focussed on enhancing species' adaptive capacity, including translocations, restocking and selective breeding. Assessing the benefits and risks of such approaches requires an improved understanding of the genetic architecture of adaptive variation, not only in relation to climate-resilient phenotypes but also locally adapted populations and the fitness of hybrids. Large structural genetic variants such as chromosomal inversions play an important role in local adaptation by linking multiple adaptive loci. Consequently, inversions are likely to be particularly important when managing for adaptive capacity. However, under some circumstances, they also accumulate deleterious mutations, potentially increasing the risk of inbreeding depression. Genetic management that takes account of these dual roles on fitness is likely to be more effective at ensuring population persistence. We summarise evolutionary factors influencing adaptive and deleterious variation of inversions, review inversions found in marine taxa, and provide a framework to predict the consequences of ignoring inversions in key management scenarios. We conclude by describing practical methods to bridge the gap between evolutionary theory and practical application of inversions in conservation.</p>","PeriodicalId":210,"journal":{"name":"Molecular Ecology","volume":" ","pages":"e17776"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-05-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143953560","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Endangered Deep-Snow Mountain Caribou Have a Distinct Winter Diet and Gut Microbiome That May Be Altered by Maternal Penning","authors":"Scott Sugden,&nbsp;Robert Serrouya,&nbsp;Lalenia Neufeld,&nbsp;Helen Schwantje,&nbsp;Colleen Cassady St. Clair,&nbsp;Lisa Stein,&nbsp;Toby Spribille","doi":"10.1111/mec.17783","DOIUrl":"10.1111/mec.17783","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Understanding species- or population-specific dietary specialisation is key to informing habitat conservation needs and successful <i>ex situ</i> recovery programs for many endangered species. One of the most endangered populations in Canada, the behaviourally distinct deep-snow ecotype of the Southern Mountain caribou, is characterised by a winter diet of arboreal rather than terrestrial lichens. We hypothesised that this dietary variation would produce a distinct gut microbiome in deep-snow mountain caribou relative to their shallow-snow counterparts. We additionally hypothesised that the temporary alteration of natural diets for <i>ex situ</i> conservation programs, including the provision of commercial pelleted feed and volunteer-collected lichens during maternity penning of pregnant cows, may alter this specialised microbiome. Here, we use faecal DNA metabarcoding to compare diet and gut microbiome composition among various herds of deep- and shallow-snow caribou, captive deep-snow caribou from the Revelstoke maternity pen, and semi-domesticated reindeer. Our results confirm that free-ranging deep-snow caribou specialise on the arboreal hair lichens <i>Bryoria</i> and <i>Nodobryoria,</i> and we show that this correlates with a microbiome distinct from that of shallow-snow caribou specialising on the terrestrial lichens <i>Cladonia</i> and <i>Stereocaulon</i>. We also show that maternity penning of deep-snow caribou significantly altered forage consumption and microbiome composition: penned caribou consumed more foliose lichens and had a distinct microbiome compared to free-ranging caribou. Our results suggest that managers should carefully consider the preferred forage of caribou populations when designing interventions that require diet modification. We further suggest that faecal samples of caribou and other dietary specialists be routinely monitored for diet and microbiome composition, especially during periods of captivity or diet modification, as an additional component of conservation assessments.</p>","PeriodicalId":210,"journal":{"name":"Molecular Ecology","volume":"34 11","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-05-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/mec.17783","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143952472","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Promise of Environmental RNA Research Beyond mRNA.","authors":"Ehsan Pashay Ahi, Tamara Schenekar","doi":"10.1111/mec.17787","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.17787","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Environmental RNA (eRNA) studies have primarily focused on species detection and community composition through metabarcoding or metatranscriptomics, and on gene expression through messenger RNA (mRNA) abundance analysis. While valuable, this focus overlooks the broader functional roles of other RNA types in cellular metabolism. Beyond mRNA, noncoding RNAs as well as structural RNAs play critical roles in gene regulation during stress responses, development and adaptation. Additionally, RNA processes like RNA methylation or alternative splicing also respond to similar environmental or developmental signals. When applied to eRNA research, these additional RNA types and RNA processes hold significant potential as powerful, noninvasive tools for monitoring the physiological state of entire species communities. In this roadmap, we present underexplored RNA types and processes relevant for eRNA research, outlining their functions and the challenges of integrating them into the field. Expanding eRNA research to include more diverse aspects of RNA biology will require improved experimental techniques for sensitive and reliable detection and quantification of specific RNAs in eRNA samples, along with enhanced tools for taxonomic and functional annotation and the expansion of genetic reference databases. Where species-level resolution is not possible, functional inferences could be drawn at higher taxonomic levels. Expanding the scope of eRNA studies to encompass more diverse RNA types and RNA processes will provide additional insights into species communities' state, their adaptation potential and responses to stressors in a noninvasive way.</p>","PeriodicalId":210,"journal":{"name":"Molecular Ecology","volume":" ","pages":"e17787"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-05-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143957957","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Population Expansion in North American Snakes Tracks Pleistocene Climate Fluctuations and Subsequent Warming","authors":"Yannick Z. Francioli,&nbsp;Tereza Jezkova,&nbsp;Todd A. Castoe","doi":"10.1111/mec.17789","DOIUrl":"10.1111/mec.17789","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;How did the rapid and extensive climate oscillations of the late Pleistocene impact population expansion across ecologically distinct species? In a From the Cover article in this issue of &lt;i&gt;Molecular Ecology&lt;/i&gt;, Harrington et al. (&lt;span&gt;2024&lt;/span&gt;) reconstruct the demographic history of nine snake species or species complexes from the Eastern Nearctic to address this question. Leveraging newly generated and published genomic data, the authors test the hypothesis that these snake lineages show synchronous demographic expansion following the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Their findings suggest that most snake lineages tested do indeed show evidence of synchronised population expansion following the Pleistocene, though less tightly associated with post-LGM warming than expected. While some lineages exhibited exponential growth after the LGM, other lineages expanded more gradually throughout the Pleistocene. To address the broad question of what might explain variation in expansion responses across species, the authors also conduct analyses of correlations between environmental factors and genetic distances within species, and conclude that species-specific ecological traits likely explain distinct demographic patterns across species. The broad similarities in expansion timing across species provide new compelling evidence for the consistent effects of post-Pleistocene warming on ectotherm populations, such as snakes. Broadly, this study further reinforces the late Pleistocene as a valuable model for understanding species-specific responses to past climate change, and the potential of such understanding to predict how species may respond differently to future climate change.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The transitions between glacial and interglacial periods during the Pleistocene (last 2 million years), particularly the rapid warming following the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) around 18,000 years ago, represent the most significant climatic shifts in Earth's recent history (Clark et al. &lt;span&gt;2009&lt;/span&gt;). As such, these climatic shifts had profound impacts on the distributions of flora and fauna, leading to corresponding shifts in the distributions and population sizes of species (Hewitt &lt;span&gt;2000&lt;/span&gt;), particularly those distributed in the Nearctic. These large-scale shifts were driven by multiple interconnected and non-mutually exclusive factors, including: (a) the retreat of massive ice sheets that once blanketed northern North America (Figure 1), (b) a significant temperature rise—up to 9°C in some regions (Figure 2; Annan and Hargreaves &lt;span&gt;2013&lt;/span&gt;)—accompanied by drier conditions, (c) the emergence of novel climate regimes absent during the glacial period, and (d) ecological reshuffling, which exposed species to new selective pressures related to food availability, predation and competition (Jackson and Overpeck &lt;span&gt;2000&lt;/span&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Understanding how species responded to these extreme past climate events can provide valuable insight into how distin","PeriodicalId":210,"journal":{"name":"Molecular Ecology","volume":"34 11","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-05-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/mec.17789","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143957323","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Divergent Genetic Pathways Underlying Convergent Parasitic Behaviours in Blowflies","authors":"Gisele Antoniazzi Cardoso,&nbsp;Pedro Mariano-Martins,&nbsp;Gustavo Amaral Faria,&nbsp;Inoka Karunaratne,&nbsp;Patricia Jacqueline Thyssen,&nbsp;Tatiana Teixeira Torres","doi":"10.1111/mec.17785","DOIUrl":"10.1111/mec.17785","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Blowfly (Diptera: Calliphoridae) exhibit diverse feeding strategies, with most species developing on decomposing organic matter. However, parasitism has evolved within the family, and some species convergently gained the ability to explore the tissues of living vertebrate hosts, which imposes critical veterinary, medical, and agricultural issues worldwide. It is yet unknown how this phenotype has evolved and whether it is determined by the same genetic architecture in different species or not. To address these questions, we evaluated key behavioural phenotypes in species with contrasting feeding habits, focusing on female oviposition preferences and larval survival on distinct diets, both critical aspects of their life cycles. These assays allowed us to propose hypotheses of how oviposition and larval behaviours contribute to feeding habits displayed in nature for parasitic and saprophagous species. Additionally, a transcriptome-wide analysis revealed genes and functional pathways potentially linked to parasitic behaviour by comparing gene expression profiles and coding sequence evolution. In the genetic analysis, we identified genes with important functions related to the measured behaviours, revealing that distinct genes may underlie each independent case of parasitism evolution, suggesting a non-parallel evolutionary pathway for this convergent trait.</p>","PeriodicalId":210,"journal":{"name":"Molecular Ecology","volume":"34 11","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-05-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/mec.17785","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143959254","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Differences in Colour Pattern, Behaviour and Gene Expression in the Brain Suggest Divergent Camouflage Strategies in Sympatric Reef Fish Species","authors":"M. J. Heckwolf,&nbsp;J. Gismann,&nbsp;M. González-Santoro,&nbsp;F. Coulmance,&nbsp;J. Fuß,&nbsp;W. O. McMillan,&nbsp;O. Puebla","doi":"10.1111/mec.17748","DOIUrl":"10.1111/mec.17748","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Camouflage is a critical survival strategy that helps to evade predation and increase hunting success. Background matching and disruptive colouration are different camouflage strategies that are subject to different selective pressures and can drive divergence in their associated traits such as colour pattern and behaviour. This study tested whether two closely related reef fish species (<i>Hypoplectrus</i> spp.) with distinct colour patterns exhibit different predator escape responses and differential gene expression in the brain indicative of divergent camouflage strategies. Combining field and laboratory experiments, we show that barred hamlets, characterised by disruptive colouration, are dynamic in their escape responses, while black hamlets, with their darker colouration, had a preference for hiding. The behavioural differences between these species seem to be limited to divergent predator escape responses since other behaviours such as activity or sociability did not differ. Importantly, the observed behavioural differences were accompanied by transcriptomic differences in their brains, particularly in regions associated with the perception of looming threats and less so in the region involved in conditioning. Differential expression in the diencephalon suggests enhanced neuronal plasticity in barred hamlets, which might allow for rapid adjustments in their escape response, while black hamlets exhibited upregulation in genes linked to immune response and oxygen transport in the optic tectum. Overall, our findings suggest that the two species utilise different camouflage strategies, which might contribute to the maintenance of colour pattern differences and thereby influence the speciation and diversification of these closely related sympatric reef fishes.</p>","PeriodicalId":210,"journal":{"name":"Molecular Ecology","volume":"34 11","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/mec.17748","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143957907","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Maximising Eradication Potential of Rat Gene Drives Using a Two-Target Homing Rescue Strategy: Spatial Modelling of Empirical Data","authors":"Aysegul Birand,&nbsp;Luke Gierus,&nbsp;Thomas A. A. Prowse,&nbsp;Phillip Cassey,&nbsp;Paul Q. Thomas","doi":"10.1111/mec.17777","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.17777","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Gene drives are genetic elements with positively biased transmission and may be useful tools to suppress mammalian pests that threaten biodiversity worldwide. While gene drives are progressing in mice, less is known about their potential for invasive rat control. A recent report has provided the first data on germline gene conversion in rats, demonstrating that modest homing rates (up to 67%) can be achieved in females. Here, we apply these empirically derived values to investigate the potential of various gene drive strategies to suppress an island population of 200,000 rats, using our stochastic, spatially explicit, individual-based modelling framework. Standard homing drives embedded in haplosufficient fertility or viability genes failed to eradicate, but achieved permanent population suppression. In contrast, a two-target design with a homing rescue (HR) drive embedded in a haplolethal gene that also targets an independent fertility or viability gene demonstrated considerable suppression potential. Remarkably, an HR drive targeting a haplosufficient female fertility gene showed robust eradication even at the relatively low homing rates previously demonstrated in rats. Interestingly, homing rate had a relatively low influence on eradication probability while cutting efficiency at the haplolethal gene was critical. Further, as long as the latter was similar to the cutting and subsequent knockout of the unlinked female fertility gene, then eradication could be achieved across a range of homing rates. Together, these results suggest that modest homing rates, such as have been demonstrated in rats and other species, can potentially be leveraged for population suppression, offering new opportunities for gene drive development.</p>","PeriodicalId":210,"journal":{"name":"Molecular Ecology","volume":"34 10","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/mec.17777","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143909584","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Trans-Atlantic Dispersal and Introgression Explain Holarctic Disjunct Distributions in Vanessa Butterflies","authors":"Aleix Palahí,&nbsp;Aurora García-Berro,&nbsp;Vlad Dincă,&nbsp;Raluca Vodă,&nbsp;Leonardo Dapporto,&nbsp;Niclas Backström,&nbsp;Roger Vila,&nbsp;Naomi E. Pierce,&nbsp;Gerard Talavera","doi":"10.1111/mec.17781","DOIUrl":"10.1111/mec.17781","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Species with disjunct distributions have long puzzled evolutionary biologists and biogeographers. Long-distance dispersal can play a pivotal role in generating intra-specific disjunct distributions, initiating early stages of allopatric speciation and leading to eventual interspecific disjunctions. <i>Vanessa</i> butterflies exhibit diverse movement behaviours, from low-dispersal species with restricted distributions to others that engage in annual extensive migratory cycles. The biogeographic history of <i>Vanessa</i> presents intriguing cases of both intra- and interspecific disjunctions. <i>Vanessa atalanta</i> is present in the Nearctic and Western Palearctic but is absent in Asia, while its sister species <i>V. tameamea</i> is endemic to Hawaii. <i>Vanessa indica</i> occurs only in Asia, and its sister species, <i>V. vulcania</i>, is endemic to Macaronesia. Here, we investigate this conundrum through population genomics and demographic analyses of <i>Vanessa atalanta</i> using ddRAD data from 70 samples across its entire distributional range, identifying two genetically differentiated populations separated by the Atlantic Ocean. Demographic simulations and phylogenetic analyses suggest that these originated via long-distance dispersal from the Nearctic to Europe around the Last Glacial Maximum. Hybridisation tests revealed introgression between the Palearctic population of <i>V. atalanta</i> and <i>V. indica</i>, indicating that their distributions overlapped during <i>V. atalanta</i>'s colonisation of Europe. We hypothesise that <i>V. atalanta</i> caused a species displacement of <i>V. indica</i> from Europe to Asia, explaining their current allopatric distributions—a scenario that is supported by ecological niche modelling. Together, our results illustrate the role of long-distance dispersal and species interactions in shaping complex biogeographic patterns.</p>","PeriodicalId":210,"journal":{"name":"Molecular Ecology","volume":"34 11","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/mec.17781","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143954458","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Frequent Hybridisation Between Parapatric Lekking Bird-of-Paradise Species","authors":"Filip Thörn,&nbsp;Ingo A. Müller,&nbsp;André E. R. Soares,&nbsp;Elizah Nagombi,&nbsp;Knud A. Jønsson,&nbsp;Mozes P. K. Blom,&nbsp;Martin Irestedt","doi":"10.1111/mec.17780","DOIUrl":"10.1111/mec.17780","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Hybridisation is known to occur between a wide range of taxa, including species for which strong sexual selection has led to markedly different sexual phenotypes and lek-mating behaviours. To what extent occasional hybridisation can overcome the reproductive barriers in such systems and, for example, lead to the establishment of hybrid zones is poorly known. In this study, we address this question by focusing on one of the most well-known avian radiations in which sexual selection has resulted in an extraordinary assemblage of phenotypic diversity and lek-mating behaviours: the birds-of-paradise (<i>Paradisaeidae</i>). We quantify the genome-wide distribution of introgression and find multiple signals of recent and historical gene flow between and within two genera of birds-of-paradise, <i>Astrapia</i> and <i>Paradigalla</i>. In addition, we present the first empirical genomic indication of a putative hybrid zone between two lekking bird-of-paradise species that differ substantially in their sexually selected traits and behaviours. Our findings are consistent with the idea that behavioural and phenotypic traits may constitute weaker pre- and post-zygotic barriers to gene flow than generally thought in lek-mating species.</p>","PeriodicalId":210,"journal":{"name":"Molecular Ecology","volume":"34 11","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/mec.17780","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143960227","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}