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Local adaptation in rotifer populations

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Abstract

The adaptation of organisms to their environment has been a subject of study for a long time. One method to study adaptations in populations involves comparing contemporary populations of the same species under different selective regimes, in what is known as a ‘local adaptation’ study. A previous study of the cyclically parthenogenetic rotifer Brachionus plicatilis found high heritabilities for some life-history traits. Some of these life-history traits significantly differed among six populations from Eastern Spain and data suggested some traits to have higher evolutionary rates than neutral genetic markers. Here, by studying the same B. plicatilis populations, we examine the variation and possible local adaptation of their main life-history traits, closely related to fitness, in relation to habitat salinity and temperature. These environmental factors have been shown to play a key role in the ecological differentiation among co-generic species of B. plicatilis. The results obtained in this study show that: (1) the seasonality of rotifer populations from Eastern Spain has profoundly influenced sexual reproduction strategies; (2) salinity is probably a key factor in the ecological specialization of some populations; and (3) rotifer populations harbour high variability in their fitness components.

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Acknowledgments

We thank M. de Moya for isolation of diapausing eggs and DNA extraction using HotSHOT and J. Montero-Pau for his helpful advice on the HotSHOT extraction method. Two anonymous referees on a previous version of this manuscript made valuable suggestions. The Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología supported this study by grant BOS2000-1451, the Spanish Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia by grant BOS2003-0075 and the Conselleria d’Empresa, Universitat i Ciència (Generalitat Valenciana) by grant GRUPOS2004/20. E.M.G-R. was supported by a FPU fellowship from the Spanish Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deportes. S.C. was supported by a “V Segles” fellowship from the Universitat de València (Spain).

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  1. Institut Cavanilles de Biodiversitat i Biologia Evolutiva, Universitat de València, A.O. 22085, E46071, Valencia, Spain

    Sergi Campillo, Eduardo M. García-Roger, María José Carmona & Manuel Serra

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  1. Sergi Campillo
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  2. Eduardo M. García-Roger
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  3. María José Carmona
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  4. Manuel Serra
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Correspondence to Sergi Campillo.

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Sergi Campillo, Eduardo M. García-Roger contributed equally to this work.

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Campillo, S., García-Roger, E.M., Carmona, M.J. et al. Local adaptation in rotifer populations. Evol Ecol 25, 933–947 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10682-010-9447-5

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