Unravelling rapid evolution: genomic characterisation of threatened biodiversity in Wallace's Dream Ponds.

The emergence of biodiversity through evolution is a defining question in evolutionary biology and instrumental in conservation in the face of global biodiversity change. Much of the evolution of biodiversity on Earth was driven by adaptive radiations – bursts rapid speciation over relatively short evolutionary timescales. Ongoing adaptive radiations allow us to study the rapid emergence of biodiversity in real time. The Malili Lakes in central Sulawesi, Indonesia, also called Wallace's Dream Ponds, are a diversity hotspot, supporting multiple adaptive radiations and high degrees of endemism in various groups, such as snails, shrimp, crabs, and fish. One of these adaptive radiations, the sailfin silverside fishes (genus Telmatherina) have diversified in the lakes producing ~20 species and morphotypes with many different phenotypic and ecological adaptations. While these sailfin silverside fishes have been well characterised ecologically and morphologically, their genomes have not yet been investigated and their evolutionary relationships are still largely unresolved. During the past year, analysing whole genome sequencing data, I found that three of the species of sailfin silverside fishes form a hybrid swarm, meaning they continually hybridise, while remaining distinct species. My own analysis during the first year of my post-doctoral research has shown that these three species are more difficult to distinguish on a genomic level than previously anticipated. Therefore, I now request funding to sequence 60 additional samples (20 of each of these three species), to identify genomic regions of differentiation between the three species. In this project, I will perform a detailed genomic characterisation of the differences and similarities between the pure (not hybridised) forms of these three species. Using whole genome sequences of 20 individuals of each of the three species, I will construct the genomic landscapes of divergence between species pairs of pure (non-hybridised) individuals, by calculating divergence statistics such as dxy and FST, over small windows of the genome. This will allow me to identify regions which show genomic peaks of species divergence (high values of FST or dxy), and 'valleys' of low divergence (high similarity). This funding specifically will allow me to uncover information about the genomes of three of the species which are the focus of my post-doctoral research. The results on the genomic architecture of and the landscapes of divergence between these three fish species will be indispensable for the correct interpretation of my results throughout all the publications of my post doc and beyond. Being the first genomic investigation of an enigmatic and threatened adaptive radiation in an understudied diversity hotspot and taking steps towards addressing a cutting-edge research question, the results of this project will be of major scientific interest. This project will help me with setting up this study system, and gaining skills for genomic analysis, which are important steps towards developing my own line of research building on my post-doctoral research.

Keywords:GENOMICS, SPECIATION, ADAPTATION

Disciplines:Analysis of next-generation sequence data, Speciation, Population, ecological and evolutionary genetics