A wide hybrid zone mediated by precipitation contributed to confused
geographical-structure of Scutiger boulengeri
Abstract
Confused geographical-structure of population and mito-nuclear
discordance have been shaped by a combination of rapid population
demographic changes and ecological shifts. In this study, we generated a
time calibrated phylogeny of Scutiger boulengeri, an endemic
Tibetan alpine toad occurring in mountain streams in Qinghai-Tibet
Plateau, based on three mitochondria (mtDNA) genes, in which eight
clades were assigned into three deeply divergent lineages. While nuclear
DNA (nuDNA) revealed three distinct clusters without geographical
structure indicating significantly high rates of gene flow by population
structure analysis. The coalescent theory framework (approximate
Bayesian computation model DIYABC and Migrate-N) suggested that the
intraspecific main clusters divergence was the result of hybridization
after secondary contact in Holocene around 0.59 Ma, with population size
change. The ratio of mtDNA divergence to nuDNA divergence was 2.3, less
than 4, failed to test a sex-biased dispersal. Geographic cline analysis
showing a wide hybrid zone initially established in southwestern China,
without significant reproductive isolation but a strong influence of
introgression in S. boulengeri, suggested high fitness of
hybrids. Moreover, mtDNA exhibited isolation by distance (IBD) while
nuDNA showed significant isolation by environment (IBE). Our results
suggested such mito-nuclear discordance might have been first caused by
geographic isolations, followed by hybridization mediated by
precipitation, and produced a wide hybrid zone, which contributed to
confused geographical-structure of the nuDNA in S. boulengeri.
This study unveiled the complicated historical process that might have
led to specific genetic pattern and specific climate factor facilitating
phenotypic diversity in this system.