Tracing the trans-pacific evolutionary history of a domesticated Seaweed (Gracilaria chilensis) with archaeological and genetic data

Marie-Laure Guillemin; Myriam Valero; Sylvain Faugeron; Wendy Nelson; Christophe Destombe

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0114039

Tracing the trans-pacific evolutionary history of a domesticated Seaweed (Gracilaria chilensis) with archaeological and genetic data

PLoS One. 2014 Dec 11;9(12):e114039. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0114039. eCollection 2014.

Authors

Marie-Laure Guillemin¹, Myriam Valero², Sylvain Faugeron³, Wendy Nelson⁴, Christophe Destombe²

Affiliations

¹ Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales y Evolutivas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Austral de Chile, Casilla 567, Valdivia, Chile; CNRS, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC University Paris VI, UMI 3614, Evolutionary Biology and Ecology of Algae, Station Biologique de Roscoff, CS 90074, Place G. Tessier, 296888 Roscoff, France.
² CNRS, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC University Paris VI, UMI 3614, Evolutionary Biology and Ecology of Algae, Station Biologique de Roscoff, CS 90074, Place G. Tessier, 296888 Roscoff, France.
³ CNRS, Sorbonne Universités, UPMC University Paris VI, UMI 3614, Evolutionary Biology and Ecology of Algae, Station Biologique de Roscoff, CS 90074, Place G. Tessier, 296888 Roscoff, France; Centro de Conservación Marina and CeBiB, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
⁴ National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research, School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Private Bag 14901, Wellington 6241, New Zealand.

Abstract

The history of a domesticated marine macroalga is studied using archaeological, phylogeographic and population genetic tools. Phylogeographic and population genetic analyses demonstrated that the cultivated red alga Gracilaria chilensis colonised the Chilean coast from New Zealand. Combining archaeological observations with phylogeographic data provided evidence that exchanges between New Zealand and Chile have occurred at least before the Holocene, likely at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and we suggest that migration probably occurred via rafting. Furthermore, the remarkably low microsatellite diversity found in the Chilean populations compared to those in New Zealand is consistent with a recent genetic bottleneck as a result of over-exploitation of natural populations and/or the process of domestication. Therefore, the aquaculture of this seaweed, based essentially on clonal propagation, is occurring from genetically depressed populations and may be driving the species to an extinction vortex in Chile.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Archaeology
DNA, Intergenic / genetics
Evolution, Molecular*
Genetic Variation
Gracilaria / genetics*
Microsatellite Repeats / genetics
Pacific Ocean
Phylogeography
Seaweed / genetics*

Substances

DNA, Intergenic

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the European Research Cooperation for Development INCO-DEV Programme (INCO-EPIFIGHT ICA4-CT-2001-10021), research grants IDEALG “Seaweed biotechnology and bioresources: a french challenge” ANR-10-BTBR-04-02 from the French National Research Agency, CONICYT, Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica, Gobierno de Chile (Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico FONDECYT N°1090360 and N°1130868) and Iniciativa Cientifica Milenio (ICM P10-033F). Additional support came from the European Network of Excellence ‘Marine Genomics’ (Algal Node), from the ‘ARCUS’ programme of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Research Network “Diversity, Evolution and Biotechnology of Marine Algae” (GDRI N° 0803), National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) Coasts & Oceans CORE funding (COBR1401). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.