@article {6509, title = {Large-scale and small-scale population genetic structure of the medically important gastropod species Bulinus truncatus (Gastropoda, Heterobranchia)}, volume = {15}, year = {2022}, month = {Sep-19-2022}, abstract = {

Abstract Background Gastropod snails remain strongly understudied, despite their important role in transmitting parasitic diseases. Knowledge of their distribution and population dynamics increases our understanding of the processes driving disease transmission. We report the first study to use high-throughput sequencing (HTS) to elucidate the population genetic structure of the hermaphroditic snail Bulinus truncatus (Gastropoda, Heterobranchia) on a regional (17\–150\ km) and inter-regional (1000\–5400\ km) scale. This snail species acts as an intermediate host of Schistosoma haematobium and Schistosoma bovis, which cause human and animal schistosomiasis respectively. Methods Bulinus truncatus snails were collected in Senegal, Cameroon, Egypt and France and identified through DNA barcoding. A single-end genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) library, comprising 87 snail specimens from the respective countries, was built and sequenced on an Illumina HiSeq 2000 platform. Reads were mapped against S. bovis and S. haematobium reference genomes to identify schistosome infections, and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were scored using the Stacks pipeline. These SNPs were used to estimate genetic diversity, assess population structure and construct phylogenetic trees of B. truncatus. Results A total of 10,750 SNPs were scored and used in downstream analyses. The phylogenetic analysis identified five clades, each consisting of snails from a single country but with two distinct clades within Senegal. Genetic diversity was low in all populations, reflecting high selfing rates, but varied between locations due to habitat variability. Significant genetic differentiation and isolation by distance patterns were observed at both spatial scales, indicating that gene flow is not strong enough to counteract the effects of population bottlenecks, high selfing rates and genetic drift. Remarkably, the population genetic differentiation on a regional scale (i.e. within Senegal) was as large as that between populations on an inter-regional scale. The blind GBS technique was able to pick up parasite DNA in snail tissue, demonstrating the potential of HTS techniques to further elucidate the role of snail species in parasite transmission. Conclusions HTS techniques offer a valuable toolbox to further investigate the population genetic patterns of intermediate schistosome host snails and the role of snail species in parasite transmission. Graphical Abstract

}, issn = {1756-3305}, doi = {10.1186/s13071-022-05445-x}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13071-022-05445-x}, author = {Maes, Tim and De Corte, Zo{\"e} and Vangestel, Carl and Virgilio, Massimiliano and Smitz, Nathalie and Djuikwo-Teukeng, F{\'e}licit{\'e} F. and Papadaki, Maria Ioanna and Huyse, Tine} } @article {6496, title = {A masculinizing supergene underlies an exaggerated male reproductive morph in a spider}, journal = {Nature Ecology \& Evolution}, volume = {6}, year = {2022}, month = {Dec-23-2021}, pages = {195 {\textendash} 206}, issn = {2397-334X}, doi = {10.1038/s41559-021-01626-6}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41559-021-01626-6}, author = {Hendrickx, Frederik and De Corte, Zo{\"e} and Sonet, Gontran and Van Belleghem, Steven M. and K{\"o}stlbacher, Stephan and Vangestel, Carl} } @article {4689, title = {First genomic study on Lake Tanganyika sprat Stolothrissa tanganicae: a lack of population structure calls for integrated management of this important fisheries target species}, journal = {BMC Evolutionary Biology}, volume = {19}, year = {2019}, month = {Jan-12-2019}, pages = {6}, doi = {10.1186/s12862-018-1325-8}, url = {https://bmcevolbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12862-018-1325-8}, author = {De Keyzer, Els L. R. and De Corte, Zo{\"e} and Van Steenberge, Maarten and Raeymaekers, Joost A. M. and Calboli, Federico C. F. and Kmentov{\'a}, Nikol and N{\textquoteright}Sibula Mulimbwa, Th{\'e}ophile and Virgilio, Massimiliano and Vangestel, Carl and Mulungula, Pascal Masilya and Volckaert, Filip A. M. and Vanhove, Maarten P. M.} } @article {4688, title = {Evolution at two time frames: Polymorphisms from an ancient singular divergence event fuel contemporary parallel evolution}, journal = {PLOS Genetics}, volume = {14}, year = {2018}, month = {Jan-11-2019}, pages = {e1007796}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pgen.1007796}, url = {http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1007796}, author = {Van Belleghem, Steven M. and Vangestel, Carl and De Wolf, Katrien and De Corte, Zo{\"e} and M{\"o}st, Markus and Rastas, Pasi and De Meester, Luc and Hendrickx, Frederik}, editor = {Schierup, Mikkel H.} }