The zone of sympatry and hybridization of Mytilus edulis and M. galloprovincialis, as revealed by intron length polymorphism at locus mac-1

Claire Daguin (1) , Francois Bonhomme (2) , Philippe Borsa (3)

1 Laboratoire génome et populations
2 Génome, Population, Interactions
3 CoReUS - Écosystémique des communautés récifales et de leurs usages dans le Pacifique insulaire

Intron-size variation at the actin gene locus mac-1 was used to characterise mussel, Mytilus spp., populations in the ~2000-km wide zone of contact and hybridization ('hybrid zone') between M. edulis and M. galloprovincialis in western Europe. Twenty-five samples were collected in 1995-1999 in locations within the hybrid zone and from reference populations of each species. We used correspondence analysis on the matrix of allelic frequencies to determine which alleles are characteristic of each species, and to characterise samples along the genetic gradient between M. edulis and M. galloprovincialis. In the hybrid zone, some samples exhibited mac-1 allele frequencies that were typical of M. edulis; other samples were distributed along the M. edulis / M. galloprovincialis gradient and displayed variable levels of intergradation that were not correlated with geography. Some of the latter samples exhibited significant heterozygote deficiencies. The simple admixture hypothesis (Wahlund effect) could not be rejected for two-fifths of the samples. The hybrid zone thus appeared as a mosaic of populations which are either pure M. edulis, or hybrid between M. galloprovincialis and M. edulis, or a mixture of the foregoing with M. galloprovincialis individuals. These results were consistent with published allozyme data, suggesting that they can be extended to the entire nuclear genome. M. edulis mac-1 alleles were present at moderate frequency in Atlantic M. galloprovincialis, and at significantly lower frequency in some Mediterranean samples. This pattern was homogenous over a broad geographic range within each basin. It was not evident that introgression of M. edulis into M. galloprovincialis presently occurs south of the zone of contact. We propose that the distinctness of the Atlantic M. galloprovincialis population results from past introgression by M. edulis alleles.

Mots clés: Mytilus edulis; Mytilus galloprovincialis; hybrid zone; intron length polymorphism; heterozygote deficiency; introgression

Domaines: Sciences de l'environnement

Claire Daguin, Francois Bonhomme, Philippe Borsa. The zone of sympatry and hybridization of Mytilus edulis and M. galloprovincialis, as revealed by intron length polymorphism at locus mac-1. Heredity, 2001, 86, pp.342-354. ⟨hal-00553339⟩