Evolutionary cytogenomics, genetic diversity and Biogrography of Arowana species (...
| Grant number: | 17/10240-0 |
| Support type: | Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctorate |
| Effective date (Start): | July 01, 2018 |
| Status: | Discontinued |
| Field of knowledge: | Biological Sciences - Genetics |
| Principal Investigator: | Luiz Antonio Carlos Bertollo |
| Grantee: | Manolo Fernandez Perez |
| Home Institution: | Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde (CCBS). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil |
| Associated scholarship(s): | 19/02771-0 - Assessing the evolutionary history of osteoglossiform fishes (Teleostei, osteoglossomorpha) with Ultra Conserved Elements (UCEs), BE.EP.PD |
Abstract Osteoglossiformes represent one of the oldest Teleost lineages, making this group, together with its wide geographic distribution, an important object for systematic, biogeographic and evolutionary studies. Currently, living species of this order are found in several rivers and lakes in South America, Africa, Asia and Australia. Such distribution may have contributed to the diversity present in this group, possibly due to the species' need to adapt to the different environments where they occur. Of the 06 families currently described, 03 have a restricted distribution to the African continent (Pantodontidae, Mormiridae and Gymnarchidae), while the other 03 (Arapaimidae, Notopteridae and Osteoglossidae) are distributed in different continents. Considering its very ancient origin (~ 227 million years), this current pattern of distribution could be resulted from vicarious events after the Gondwana break-up, although the fossil record and recent studies incorporating molecular dating do not fully support this theory. Cytogenetic and genomic records, in addition to being scarce, are restricted to a few species, with most studies characterizing only one or a few genomic regions, making it impossible to determine the evolutionary trends that occurred in this order. This lack of data is also associated with its wide distribution, with endemic groups from different continents, hindering an integrative study that allows a globalized view of its evolutionary process. Thus, the present project seeks to evaluate the genetic variability present in the order Osteoglossiformes by the use of next generation sequencing of regions associated with Ultra Conserved Elements (ECUs) and markers obtained by DArT-Seq (Diversity Array Technology Sequencing). These markers will be used on an extensive sampling among representatives of all families of the order Osteoglossiformes and will be used to infer whether the diversification of related species, with current occurrence in different continents occurred before or after the fragmentation of the continents by marine dispersal of common ancestors that are currently extinct. Species delimitation analyzes will also be performed to the color variants in Scleropages formosus (asian arowanas) that might represent different species. In addition, the phylogeographic history of the species Arapaima gigas will be studied in detail, from the development of evolutionary models that will be tested with recent methodologies of phylogeographic analysis of models. Allied to this project is an integrated team of researchers from all 05 continents, adding efforts to the research being proposed and thus ensuring its fulfillment (AU) | |