Divergent lineages meet: What can DNA barcodes tell us about reproductive isolation in a secondary contact area of southern House Wrens?

• Autores: Fracas, Pablo A; Arrieta, Ramiro; Bukowski, Belen; Campagna, Leonardo; Lavinia, Pablo D.; Llambías, Paulo E.; Tubaro, Pablo L.; Lijtmaer, Dario A.
• Año de publicación: 2024
• Idioma: inglés
• Tipo de recurso: documento de conferencia
• Materia: Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; aves; dna barcodes; secondary contact; reproductive isolation; Ciencias Exactas y Naturales
• Institución: Universidad Nacional de Río Negro

Fil: Fracas Pablo A. División Ornitología, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia", CABA, Argentina
Fil: Arrieta Ramiro, INSTITUTO ARGENTINO DE INVESTIGACIONES DE LAS ZONAS ARIDAS (IADIZA), Mendoza, Argentina
Fil: Bukowski Belen. División Ornitología, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia", CABA, Argentina
Fil: Campagna Leonardo. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, Estados Unidos
Fil: Lavinia Pablo. Universidad Nacional de Río Negro. Laboratorio de Investigación y Conservación de la Biodiversidad (UNRNInCoBIO). Sede Atlántica, Viedma, Río Negro, Argentina
Fil: Llambías Paulo E. INSTITUTO ARGENTINO DE INVESTIGACIONES DE LAS ZONAS ARIDAS (IADIZA), Mendoza, Argentina
Fil: Tubaro Pablo L. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia", CABA, Argentina
Fil: Lijtmaer Dario A. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia", CABA, Argentina
IntroductionThe House Wren (Troglodytes aedon) includes multiple lineages that differ in mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, as well as in morphology and behavior. These lineages can be discriminated by their DNA barcodes, and two of them come into contact in central Argentina. Despite the existence of geographically restricted gene flow, they remain divergent and without significant levels of introgression outside the area of contact. Here we studied the presence of reproductive isolation mechanisms between these lineages.MethodsWe captured, banded and bled 65 adult wrens and their offspring (194 nestlings) in Uspallata (Mendoza, Argentina), a location within the contact area. To assess assortative mating assortative mating between individuals of the same lineage, we assigned each adult to its mitochondrial lineage using its DNA barcode. We also analyzed if there was a significant relationship between the breeding pair lineage composition and various nesting success variables, as well as potential male-biased offspring sex ratios as predicted by Haldane´s rule.ResultsThe number of breeding pairs of the same (21) or different (22) lineages was almost identical, suggesting the absence of assortative mating. There was no significant association between breeding pair lineage composition and the hatching success, fledgling success or overall success either. Brood sex ratio did not differ significantly from 1:1, and there were no significant differences between the average male ratio per nest between pairs of the same or different lineages.ConclusionsThese results suggest a lack of pre and postzygotic reproductive isolation mechanisms between these lineages, at least in relation to couple pairing and offspring viability. We are currently analyzing nuclear genomic data to confirm that our results are not biased by extra pair paternity, as well as to assess why offspring of couples from such divergent lineages do not experience mito-nuclear incompatibilities.