Comparative mitogenomics of native European and alien Ponto-Caspian amphipods

By

Macher, Jan-Niklas
Šidagytė-Copilas, Eglė
Copilas-Ciocianu, Denis

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2023

Original Publication

NeoBiota : advancing research on alien species and biological invasions

Volume

87

Pages

27--44

Subjects

invasive , Mitochondria , native , nucleotide composition , Phylogeny , Ponto-Caspian

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sophia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.87.105941

 

Abstract

European inland surface waters are home to a rich diversity of native amphipod crustaceans, many of which face threats from invasive Ponto-Caspian counterparts. In this study, we analyse mitochondrial genomes to deduce phylogenetic relationships and compare gene order and nucleotide composition between representative native European and invasive Ponto-Caspian taxa across five families, ten genera and 20 species (with 13 newly sequenced herein). We observe various gene rearrangement patterns in the phylogenetically diverse native species pool.Pallaseopsis quadrispinosaandSynurella ambulansexhibit notable deviations from the typical organisation, featuring extensive translocations of tRNAs and the nad1 gene, as well as a tRNA-F polarity switch in the latter. The monophyletic invasive Ponto-Caspian gammarids display a conserved gene order, primarily differing from native species by a tRNA-E and tRNA-R translocation, which reinforces previous findings. However,Chaetogammarus warpachowskyishows extensive rearrangement with translocations of six tRNAs. The invasive corophiid,Chelicorophium curvispinum, maintains a highly conserved gene order despite its distant phylogenetic position. We also discover that native species have a significantly higher GC and lower AT content compared to invasive species. The mitogenomic differences observed between native and invasive amphipods warrant further investigation and could provide insights into the mechanisms underlying invasion success.