Life-history trait variation in native versus invasive asexual New Zealand mud snails.

Potamopyrgus antipodarum is a New Zealand freshwater snail that is invasive worldwide. While native P. antipodarum populations are characterized by frequent coexistence between obligately sexual and obligately asexual individuals, only the asexual snails are known to invade other ecosystems.

Phosphorus availability in the source population influences response to dietary phosphorus quantity in a New Zealand freshwater snail.

We investigated whether previously documented variation among populations in availability of dietary phosphorus (P) is linked to heterogeneity in growth rate of the New Zealand freshwater snail Potamopyrgus antipodarum on a P-limited diet. We chose this system because P. antipodarum inhabits water bodies that vary in P availability and because P.

Distinct Bacterial Microbiomes in Sexual and Asexual Potamopyrgus antipodarum, a New Zealand Freshwater Snail.

Different reproductive strategies and the transition to asexuality can be associated with microbial symbionts. Whether such a link exists within mollusks has never been evaluated. We took the first steps towards addressing this possibility by performing pyrosequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA genes associated with Potamopyrgus antipodarum, a New Zealand freshwater snail.

Effects of polyploidy and reproductive mode on life history trait expression.

Ploidy elevation is increasingly recognized as a common and important source of genomic variation. Even so, the consequences and biological significance of polyploidy remain unclear, especially in animals. Here, our goal was to identify potential life history costs and benefits of polyploidy by conducting a large multiyear common garden experiment in Potamopyrgus antipodarum, a New Zealand freshwater snail that is a model system for the study of ploidy variation, sexual reproduction, host-parasite coevolution, and invasion ecology.

Response to phosphorus limitation varies among lake populations of the freshwater snail Potamopyrgus antipodarum.

Local adaptation--typically recognized as higher values of fitness-related traits for native vs. non-native individuals when measured in the native environment--is common in natural populations because of pervasive spatial variation in the intensity and type of natural selection. Although local adaptation has been primarily studied in the context of biotic interactions, widespread variation in abiotic characteristics of environments suggests that local adaptation in response to abiotic factors should also be common.

Discordance between nuclear and mitochondrial genomes in sexual and asexual lineages of the freshwater snail Potamopyrgus antipodarum.

The presence and extent of mitonuclear discordance in coexisting sexual and asexual lineages provides insight into 1) how and when asexual lineages emerged, and 2) the spatial and temporal scales at which the ecological and evolutionary processes influencing the evolution of sexual and asexual reproduction occur. Here, we used nuclear single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers and a mitochondrial gene to characterize phylogeographic structure and the extent of mitonuclear discordance in Potamopyrgus antipodarum. This New Zealand freshwater snail is often used to study the evolution and maintenance of sex because obligately sexual and obligately asexual individuals often coexist.