IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v12y2021i1d10.1038_s41467-021-21379-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Genome sequences reveal global dispersal routes and suggest convergent genetic adaptations in seahorse evolution

Author

Listed:
  • Chunyan Li

    (South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Innovation Academy of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences
    Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou)
    Laboratory for Marine Fisheries Science and Food Production Processes, Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (Qingdao))

  • Melisa Olave

    (University of Konstanz
    Argentine Dryland Research Institute, National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (IADIZA-CONICET))

  • Yali Hou

    (Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences; China National Center for Bioinformation
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Geng Qin

    (South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Innovation Academy of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences
    Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou))

  • Ralf F. Schneider

    (University of Konstanz
    Marine Ecology, Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel)

  • Zexia Gao

    (Huazhong Agricultural University)

  • Xiaolong Tu

    (Allwegene Technologies Inc.)

  • Xin Wang

    (South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Innovation Academy of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Furong Qi

    (Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences; China National Center for Bioinformation
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Alexander Nater

    (University of Konstanz)

  • Andreas F. Kautt

    (University of Konstanz
    Harvard University)

  • Shiming Wan

    (South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Innovation Academy of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Yanhong Zhang

    (South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Innovation Academy of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Yali Liu

    (South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Innovation Academy of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Huixian Zhang

    (South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Innovation Academy of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Bo Zhang

    (South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Innovation Academy of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Hao Zhang

    (South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Innovation Academy of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Meng Qu

    (South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Innovation Academy of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Shuaishuai Liu

    (South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Innovation Academy of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Zeyu Chen

    (University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
    Kunming Institute of Zoology, Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Jia Zhong

    (South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Innovation Academy of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • He Zhang

    (BGI-Qingdao, BGI-Shenzhen)

  • Lingfeng Meng

    (BGI-Qingdao, BGI-Shenzhen)

  • Kai Wang

    (Ludong University)

  • Jianping Yin

    (South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Innovation Academy of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Liangmin Huang

    (South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Innovation Academy of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Byrappa Venkatesh

    (Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, A*STAR)

  • Axel Meyer

    (University of Konstanz)

  • Xuemei Lu

    (Kunming Institute of Zoology, Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Qiang Lin

    (South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Innovation Academy of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences
    Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou)
    Laboratory for Marine Fisheries Science and Food Production Processes, Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (Qingdao)
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Abstract

Seahorses have a circum-global distribution in tropical to temperate coastal waters. Yet, seahorses show many adaptations for a sedentary, cryptic lifestyle: they require specific habitats, such as seagrass, kelp or coral reefs, lack pelvic and caudal fins, and give birth to directly developed offspring without pronounced pelagic larval stage, rendering long-range dispersal by conventional means inefficient. Here we investigate seahorses’ worldwide dispersal and biogeographic patterns based on a de novo genome assembly of Hippocampus erectus as well as 358 re-sequenced genomes from 21 species. Seahorses evolved in the late Oligocene and subsequent circum-global colonization routes are identified and linked to changing dynamics in ocean currents and paleo-temporal seaway openings. Furthermore, the genetic basis of the recurring “bony spines” adaptive phenotype is linked to independent substitutions in a key developmental gene. Analyses thus suggest that rafting via ocean currents compensates for poor dispersal and rapid adaptation facilitates colonizing new habitats.

Suggested Citation

  • Chunyan Li & Melisa Olave & Yali Hou & Geng Qin & Ralf F. Schneider & Zexia Gao & Xiaolong Tu & Xin Wang & Furong Qi & Alexander Nater & Andreas F. Kautt & Shiming Wan & Yanhong Zhang & Yali Liu & Hui, 2021. "Genome sequences reveal global dispersal routes and suggest convergent genetic adaptations in seahorse evolution," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-11, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-21379-x
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-21379-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-21379-x
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-021-21379-x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yali Liu & Meng Qu & Han Jiang & Ralf Schneider & Geng Qin & Wei Luo & Haiyan Yu & Bo Zhang & Xin Wang & Yanhong Zhang & Huixian Zhang & Zhixin Zhang & Yongli Wu & Yingyi Zhang & Jianping Yin & Si Zha, 2022. "Immunogenetic losses co-occurred with seahorse male pregnancy and mutation in tlx1 accompanied functional asplenia," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-21379-x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.