Whole-genome analysis reveals phylogenetic and demographic history of Eurasian perch




Lichman, Vitalii; Ozerov, Mikhail; López, María-Eugenia; Noreikiene, Kristina; Kahar, Siim; Pukk, Lilian; Burimski, Oksana; Gross, Riho; Vasemägi, Anti

PublisherJohn Wiley & Sons

2024

Journal of Fish Biology

Journal of fish biology

J Fish Biol

105

3

871

885

0022-1112

1095-8649

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.15821(external)

https://doi.org/10.1111/jfb.15821(external)

https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/456979010(external)



The contemporary diversity and distribution of species are shaped by their evolutionary and ecological history. This can be deciphered with the help of phylogenetic and demographic analysis methods, ideally combining and supplementing information from mitochondrial and nuclear genomes. In this study, we investigated the demographic history of Eurasian perch (Perca fluviatilis), a highly adaptable teleost with a distribution range across Eurasia. We combined whole-genome resequencing data with available genomic resources to analyse the phylogeny, phylogeography, and demographic history of P. fluviatilis populations from Europe and Siberia. We identified five highly diverged evolutionary mtDNA lineages, three of which show a strong signal of admixture in the Baltic Sea region. The estimated mean divergence time between these lineages ranged from 0.24 to 1.42 million years. Based on nuclear genomes, two distinct demographic trajectories were observed in European and Siberian samples reflecting contrasting demographic histories ca. 30,000-100,000 years before the present. A comparison of mtDNA and nuclear DNA evolutionary trees and AMOVA revealed concordances, as well as incongruences, between the two types of data, most likely reflecting recent postglacial colonization and hybridization events. Overall, our findings demonstrate the power and usefulness of genome-wide information for delineating historical processes that have shaped the genome of P. fluviatilis. We also highlight the added value of data-mining existing transcriptomic resources to complement novel sequence data, helping to shed light on putative glacial refugia and postglacial recolonization routes.


This study was funded by the Swedish Research Council grant 2020-03916 (to A.V.), Estonian Research Council grant PRG852 (to R.G.), the Ella and Georg Ehrnrooth foundation (to M.O.), and INTERACT (International Network for Terrestrial Research and Monitoring in the Arctic, to A.V.).


Last updated on 2025-13-03 at 12:08