Abstract
BackgroundMeiotic recombination is a fundamental genetic process that shuffles allele combinations and promotes accurate segregation of chromosomes. Analyses of the ubiquitous variation of recombination rates within and across species suggest that recombination is evolving adaptively. All studied insects with advanced eusociality have shown exceptionally high recombination rates, which may represent a prominent case of adaptive evolution of recombination. However, our understanding of the relationship between social evolution and recombination rates is incomplete, partly due to lacking empirical data. Here, we present a linkage map of the monandrous, advanced eusocial Brazilian stingless bee, Frieseomelitta varia, providing the first recombination analysis in the diverse Meliponini (Hymenoptera, Apidae).ResultsOur linkage map includes 1417 markers in 19 linkage groups. This map spans approximately 2580 centimorgans, and comparisons to the physical genome assembly indicate that it covers more than 75 % of the 275 Megabasepairs (Mbp) F. varia genome. Thus, our study results in a genome-wide recombination rate estimate of 9.3–12.5 centimorgan per Mbp. This value is higher than estimates from nonsocial insects and comparable to other highly social species, although it does not support our prediction that monandry and strong queen-worker caste divergence of F. varia lead to even higher recombination rates than other advanced eusocial species.ConclusionsOur study expands the association between elevated recombination and sociality in the order Hymenoptera and strengthens the support for the hypothesis that advanced social evolution in hymenopteran insects invariably selects for high genomic recombination rates.
Highlights
Meiotic recombination is a fundamental genetic process that shuffles allele combinations and promotes accurate segregation of chromosomes
A draft genome sequence for this mapping population was created from two individuals with highest read counts. These data from two individuals proved sufficient for a 301 Mbp assembly with an average GC content of 37 % (Table 1). This assembly was used as a direct reference for Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) calling to only discover the SNPs that were segregating in our mapping population
This result represents a significant expansion of the correlation between advanced sociality and elevated recombination rates because stingless bees have diverged from honey bees over 80 million years ago [42, 47]
Summary
Meiotic recombination is a fundamental genetic process that shuffles allele combinations and promotes accurate segregation of chromosomes. Meiotic recombination is a universal process in sexual organisms that facilitates accurate segregation of chromosomes, which is achieved by the physical connection between homologous chromosomes This connection depends on the formation of at least one reciprocal exchange between homologous chromosomes, a crossover [1]. The process of meiotic recombination increases the efficiency of natural selection by shuffling allele combinations in offspring and can create a greater genotypic variation that selection can act upon [8]. Based on these evolutionary arguments, the recombination rate is predicted to vary more widely than what is structurally required. Some of this variation can be linked to directional selection and environmental fluctuation, while some may be nonadaptive, and yet other variation may be reported due to measurement errors [12,13,14,15,16]
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