Diagnostic Genetic Markers and Evolutionary Relationships among Invasive Dreissenoid and Corbiculoid Bivalves in North America: Phylogenetic Signal from Mitochondrial 16S rDNA

Abstract

Diagnostic genetic markers from 486 aligned nucleotide sequences of mitochondrial 16S ribosomal DNA were developed for the four closely related species of dreissenoid and corbiculoid bivalves that have invaded North America; the zebra mussel Dreissena polymorpha, the quagga mussel D. bugensis, and the dark false mussel Mytilopsis leucophaeata of the superfamily Dreissenoidea, and the Asian clam Corbicula fluminea of the sister superfamily Corbiculoidea. Evolutionary relationships were examined among the four genera and comparisons were made with native Eurasian populations of D. polymorpha and D. bugensis. Tests were conducted for gender-specific mitochondrial lineages, which occur in some other bivalves. Genetic variability and divergence rates were tested between stem (paired) and loop (unpaired) regions of secondary structure. There were 251 variable nucleotide sites, of which 99 were phylogenetically informative. Overall transition to transversion ratio was 0.76:1.00 and both accumulated linearly in stem and loop regions, suggesting appropriate phylogenetic signal. Genetic distance calibration with the fossil record estimated the pairwise sequence divergence as 0.0057 ± 0.0004 per million years. Mytilopsis and Dreissena appear to have diverged about 20.7 ± 2.7 million years ago. D. bugensis and D. polymorpha appear separated by about 13.2 ± 2.2 million years. No intraspecific variation was found, including between Eurasian and North American populations, among shallow and deep morphotypes of D. bugensis and between the sexes. Restriction endonuclease markers were developed to distinguish among the species at all life history stages, allowing rapid identification in areas of sympatric distribution.