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An AFLP-based test of clonality in widespread, putatively asexual populations of Porphyra umbilicalis (Rhodophyta) in the Northwest Atlantic with an in silico analysis for bacterial contamination

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Abstract

Asexual reproduction often predominates in populations of species experiencing range expansion. Locally selected genotypes can lead to the establishment of clonal populations that accumulate genetic diversity through time. Sexual reproduction has never been observed in extensive field and culture studies of the red alga Porphyra umbilicalis from Maine, USA, even though sexual reproduction predominates in this species in the eastern Atlantic (Europe). This suggests that Maine populations are indeed asexual and might consist of one or only a few genetic clones; we have tested this using AFLPs. Individuals were sampled at two sites in Maine (Cobscook Bay [n = 25], Schoodic Point [n = 26]) and compared to sexual individuals from England (Sidmouth [n = 17]). The AFLP analysis determined that individuals at two sites in Maine containing putative asexuals were not strictly clonal; however, two multilocus lineages were sampled more than once. Two genetic clones, one at each Maine site, were comprised of 6 individuals each; the 39 additional Maine individuals had distinctive AFLP genotypes. However, when the individuals from Maine were compared with a known sexual population from Sidmouth, England, much greater genetic diversity was found within the sexual population in England. Finally, we examine how preparation of field-collected material for AFLP investigations can affect the inclusion of non-target DNA and demonstrate an in silico approach for removing some cryptic contaminants from analysis.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Juliet Brodie (Natural History Museum, London) for her help with the Sidmouth collections. We also gratefully acknowledge support of this work by NOAA # NA06OAR4170108 to SHB, a Community Sequencing Award for P. umbilicalis from the Joint Genome Institute (U. S. DoE) Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231 (PIs: SHB, E. Gantt, A. Grossman, J. Stiller), NSF Research Collaboration Network grant 0741907 (PIs: SHB, EG, AG, JS).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Marine Sciences, University of Maine, 5735 Hitchner Hall, Orono, ME, 04469, USA

    N. A. Blouin & S. H. Brawley

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Rhode Island, 120 Flagg Rd, CBLS287, Kingston, RI, 02881, USA

    N. A. Blouin

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  1. N. A. Blouin
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  2. S. H. Brawley
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Correspondence to N. A. Blouin.

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Communicated by S. Uthicke.

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Blouin, N.A., Brawley, S.H. An AFLP-based test of clonality in widespread, putatively asexual populations of Porphyra umbilicalis (Rhodophyta) in the Northwest Atlantic with an in silico analysis for bacterial contamination. Mar Biol 159, 2723–2729 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-012-2029-z

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