Líffræðifélag Íslands - biologia.is
Líffræðiráðstefnan 2019

Erindi/veggspjald / Talk/poster E33

Population genetic structuring in the common whelk, Buccinum undatum, across Iceland and the North Atlantic, as revealed by RAD sequencing

Höfundar / Authors: Jake Goodall(1,2), Zophonías O. Jónsson(1), Kristen MarieWestfall(3), Hildur Magnúsdóttir(1,2), Snæbjörn Pálsson(1), Erla Björk Örnólfsdóttir(2)

Starfsvettvangur / Affiliations: 1. Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Iceland, 101 Reykjavik, Iceland, 2. Department of Aquaculture and Fish Biology, Hólar University, 551 Sauðárkrókur, Iceland, 3. Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Pacific Biological Station, Nanaimo, BC, Canada

Kynnir / Presenter: Jake Goodall

The common whelk, Buccinum undatum, is a commercially significant gastropod species distributed throughout the North Atlantic. Throughout its distribution, B. undatum exhibits clear variation in several phenotypic shell traits, including color, shape, and thickness. West Iceland’s populations, in particular, display a degree of color diversity (seven morphotypes described) that far exceeds that described across the species’ wider distribution (three morphotypes described). RNA-Seq analyses are currently underway to characterize the genetic and regulatory factors underlying Iceland’s unique shell color diversity. However, for RNA-Seq studies to accurately describe the genetic factors underlying shell color in Icelandic whelk potential associations between genetic variation and population structure must first be identified and accounted for.
Here we present a RAD-Seq analysis of population genetic structure of B. undatum sampled from Breiðafjörður Bay (West Iceland), and across the North Atlantic. Highlights of this study include the detection of novel population genetic structure within Iceland, the detection of variable scales of divergence and outlier SNP diversity across the N-Atlantic, and support for a cryptic species complex contained within the N-Atlantic population. An overview of ongoing research aimed at characterizing genetic and phenotypic variation in B. undatum will be discussed, with an emphasis on RAD-Seq analysis of population genetic structure.