TY  - JOUR
A1  - Kolora, Sree Rohit Raj
A1  - Weigert, Anne
A1  - Saffari, Amin
A1  - Kehr, Stephanie
A1  - Walter Costa, Maria Beatriz
A1  - Spröer, Cathrin
A1  - Indrischek, Henrike
A1  - Chintalapati, Manjusha
A1  - Lohse, Konrad
A1  - Doose, Gero
A1  - Overmann, Jörg
A1  - Bunk, Boyke
A1  - Bleidorn, Christoph
A1  - Grimm-Seyfarth, Annegret
A1  - Henle, Klaus
A1  - Nowick, Katja
A1  - Faria, Rui
A1  - Stadler, Peter F.
A1  - Schlegel, Martin
T1  - Divergent evolution in the genomes of closely related lacertids, Lacerta viridis and L. bilineata, and implications for speciation
JF  - GigaScience
N2  - Background Lacerta viridis and Lacerta bilineata are sister species of European green lizards (eastern and western clades, respectively) that, until recently, were grouped together as the L. viridis complex. Genetic incompatibilities were observed between lacertid populations through crossing experiments, which led to the delineation of two separate species within the L. viridis complex. The population history of these sister species and processes driving divergence are unknown. We constructed the first high-quality de novo genome assemblies for both L. viridis and L. bilineata through Illumina and PacBio sequencing, with annotation support provided from transcriptome sequencing of several tissues. To estimate gene flow between the two species and identify factors involved in reproductive isolation, we studied their evolutionary history, identified genomic rearrangements, detected signatures of selection on non-coding RNA, and on protein-coding genes. Findings Here we show that gene flow was primarily unidirectional from L. bilineata to L. viridis after their split at least 1.15 million years ago. We detected positive selection of the non-coding repertoire; mutations in transcription factors; accumulation of divergence through inversions; selection on genes involved in neural development, reproduction, and behavior, as well as in ultraviolet-response, possibly driven by sexual selection, whose contribution to reproductive isolation between these lacertid species needs to be further evaluated. Conclusion The combination of short and long sequence reads resulted in one of the most complete lizard genome assemblies. The characterization of a diverse array of genomic features provided valuable insights into the demographic history of divergence among European green lizards, as well as key species differences, some of which are candidates that could have played a role in speciation. In addition, our study generated valuable genomic resources that can be used to address conservation-related issues in lacertids.
KW  - sister species
KW  - PacBio and Illumina
KW  - de novo hybrid assembly
KW  - transcripts
KW  - noncoding RNA
KW  - zinc fingers
KW  - positive selection
KW  - UV response
KW  - inversions
KW  - gene flow
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1093/gigascience/giy160
SN  - 2047-217X
VL  - 8
IS  - 2
PB  - Oxford Univ. Press
CY  - Oxford
ER  -