Admixture affects the rate and repeatability of experimental adaptation
to a stressful environment in Callosobruchus maculatus
Abstract
Admixture is common in nature, and can serve as a crucial source of
adaptive potential through the generation of novel genotype combinations
and phenotypes. Conversely, the presence of hybrid incompatibilities can
decrease the fitness of hybrids. Due to the pervasiveness of admixture
in nature and its potential role in facilitating adaptation,
understanding how admixture affects the rate and repeatability of
evolution is important for furthering our understanding of evolutionary
dynamics. However, few studies have assessed how patterns of
evolutionary parallelism in admixed lineages are affected by the
presence of strong ecological pressure. In this experiment, we assessed
patterns of evolution and parallelism across admixed and non-admixed
cowpea seed beetles (Callosobruchus maculatus) during adaptation to a
novel, stressful host: lentil. Specifically, we asked (1) whether
admixture facilitates adaptation to lentil, (2) whether parallelism was
higher in admixed or non-admixed lineages, and (3) to what degree
parallelism in admixed lineages was associated with selection on
globally adaptive alleles versus epistatic effects and hybrid
incompatibilities. We found that admixture facilitated adaptation to
lentil, and evolutionary rescue–defined as adaptation that prevents
population extinction–occurred in all lineages. The degree of
evolutionary parallelism was highest in two admixed lineages, but
notable in all lineages. Adaptation to lentil appeared to be driven by
selection on alleles that were globally adaptive. However, even during
evolutionary rescue in a marginal environment, the purging of hybrid
incompatibilities appeared to contribute substantially to evolutionary
parallelism in admixed lineages.