Amphipods in estuaries: the sibling species low salinity switch hypothesis

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Abstract

A novel low salinity switch hypothesis is proposed to account for the speciation of an obligate estuarine (oligohaline) amphipod, Orchestia aestuarensis, from a closely-related one, Orchestia mediterranea, found in both estuarine and marine conditions (euryhaline). The underlying genetic mechanisms could involve: 1. A dimorphic allele, or linked set of alleles, carried by the euryhaline amphipod which controls the ability to breed in low salinity conditions in estuaries and which is selected for in these conditions, producing the oligohaline amphipod. 2. A genetically-assimilated gene or genes, controlling the ability to breed in low salinity conditions in estuaries, which is/are “switched on” by low salinity conditions. 3. Allopatric speciation from a euryhaline to an oligohaline amphipod species where low salinity conditions is the selective switch. It is possible that other estuarine, sibling, amphipod pairs have evolved by salinity switching. In the North Atlantic coastal region, this could include: Gammarus tigrinus/G. daiberi and G. salinus/G. zaddachi (Amphipoda, Gammaridae).

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bold: The Barcode of Life Data System (http://www.barcodinglife.org)

Sujeevan Ratnasingham, Paul Hebert (2007)

The Barcode of Life Data System (bold) is an informatics workbench aiding the acquisition, storage, analysis and publication of DNA barcode records. By assembling molecular, morphological and distributional data, it bridges a traditional bioinformatics chasm. bold is freely available to any researcher with interests in DNA barcoding. By providing specialized services, it aids the assembly of records that meet the standards needed to gain BARCODE designation in the global sequence databases. Because of its web-based delivery and flexible data security model, it is also well positioned to support projects that involve broad research alliances. This paper provides a brief introduction to the key elements of bold, discusses their functional capabilities, and concludes by examining computational resources and future prospects.