Ocean current patterns drive the worldwide colonization of eelgrass (Zostera marina)
- GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (Germany)
- GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (Germany); Kiel University (Germany)
- University of Zurich (Switzerland); University of Oslo (Norway)
- HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, Huntsville, AL (United States)
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- University of California, Davis, CA (United States)
- Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (Canada)
- Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD (United States)
- Institute of Marine Sciences (UNC-CH), Morehead City, NC (United States)
- Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency, Yokohama (Japan)
- San Diego State University, CA (United States)
- Northeastern University, Nahant, MA (United States)
- University of Gothenburg, Strömstad (Sweden)
- University of Zadar (Croatia)
- US Geological Survey, Anchorage, AK (United States)
- University of Gothenburg (Sweden)
- Hokkaido University, Akkeshi (Japan)
- Nord University, Bodø (Norway)
- Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn–National Institute of Marine Biology, Ecology and Biotechnology, Genoa (Italy)
- University of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)
- Far Northwestern Institute of Art and Science, Anchorage, AK (United States)
- Swansea University (United Kingdom); Project Seagrass, Bridgend (United Kingdom)
- Kiel University (Germany)
- HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, Huntsville, AL (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Ghent University (Belgium); University of Pretoria (South Africa); Nanjing Agricultural University (China)
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences (Netherlands)
Currents are unique drivers of oceanic phylogeography and thus determine the distribution of marine coastal species, along with past glaciations and sea-level changes. Here we reconstruct the worldwide colonization history of eelgrass (Zostera marina L.), the most widely distributed marine flowering plant or seagrass from its origin in the Northwest Pacific, based on nuclear and chloroplast genomes. We identified two divergent Pacific clades with evidence for admixture along the East Pacific coast. Two west-to-east (trans-Pacific) colonization events support the key role of the North Pacific Current. Time-calibrated nuclear and chloroplast phylogenies yielded concordant estimates of the arrival of Z. marina in the Atlantic through the Canadian Arctic, suggesting that eelgrass-based ecosystems, hotspots of biodiversity and carbon sequestration, have only been present there for ~243 ky (thousand years). Mediterranean populations were founded ~44 kya, while extant distributions along western and eastern Atlantic shores were founded at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum (~19 kya), with at least one major refuge being the North Carolina region. The recent colonization and five- to sevenfold lower genomic diversity of the Atlantic compared to the Pacific populations raises concern and opportunity about how Atlantic eelgrass might respond to rapidly warming coastal oceans.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities (SUF); National Science Foundation (NSF)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-05CH11231; OCE-1336206; OCE-1829976
- OSTI ID:
- 2007208
- Journal Information:
- Nature Plants (Online), Vol. 9, Issue 8; ISSN 2055-0278
- Publisher:
- Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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