title: Hidden diversity and phylogeographic history provide conservation insights for the edible seaweedSargassum fusiformein the Northwest Pacific.
abstract: Understanding the evolutionary processes that have created diversity and the genetic potential of species to adapt to environmental change is an important premise for biodiversity conservation. Herein, we used mitochondrialtrnW-L andcox3 and plastidrbcL-S data sets to analyze population genetic variation and phylogeographic history of the brown algaSargassum fusiforme, whose natural resource has been largely exterminated in the Asia-Northwest Pacific in the past decades. Phylogenetic trees and network analysis consistently revealed three major haplotype groups (A, B, and C) inS. fusiforme, with A and B distributed in the Japan-Pacific coast. Group C consisted of three subgroups (C1, C2, and C3) which were distributed in the Sea of Japan, the Yellow-Bohai Sea, and East China Sea, respectively. Isolation-with-migration (IM a) analysis revealed that the three groups diverged approximately during the mid-Pleistocene (c. 756-1,224 ka). Extended Bayesian skyline plots (EBSP) showed that groups A and B underwent relatively long-term stable population size despite a subsequent rapid demographic expansion, while subgroups C2 and C3 underwent a sudden expansion atc. 260 ka.FSTand AMOVA detected low population-level genetic variation and high degrees of divergence between groups. The cryptic diversity and phylogeographic patterns found inS. fusiformenot only are essential to understand how environmental shifts and evolutionary processes shaped diversity and distribution of coastal seaweeds but also provide additional insights for conserving and managing seaweed resources and facilitate predictions of their responses to future climate change and habitat loss.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology Institute of Oceanology Chinese Academy of Sciences Qingdao China; Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology Qingdao China.
authors.forename: Zi-Min
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-1313-1785
authors.initials: ZM
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology Institute of Oceanology Chinese Academy of Sciences Qingdao China; Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology Qingdao China; College of Earth Science University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China; Present address: Institute of Marine Biology College of Oceanography Hohai University Nanjing 210098 China.
authors.forename: Jing-Jing
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Marine Organism Taxonomy & Phylogeny Institute of Oceanology Chinese Academy of Sciences Qingdao China.
authors.forename: Zhong-Min
authors.initials: ZM
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Inland Seas Kobe University Rokkodai Kobe Japan.
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology Institute of Oceanology Chinese Academy of Sciences Qingdao China; Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology Qingdao China.
authors.forename: Jian-Ting
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Biological Science and Research Institute for Basic Science Wonkwang University Iksan Korea.
authors.forename: Han-Gil
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Fisheries Kagoshima University Kagoshima Japan.
authors.forename: Hikaru
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Endo
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology Institute of Oceanology Chinese Academy of Sciences Qingdao China; Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology Qingdao China.
authors.forename: De-Lin
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Duan
keywords: Asia–Northwest Pacific; Sargassum fusiforme; biodiversity conservation; climate change; cryptic lineage; phylogeographic process