Exploring the utility of cross-laboratory RAD-sequencing datasets for phylogenetic analysis

BACKGROUND: Restriction site-Associated DNA sequencing (RAD-Seq) is widely applied to generate genome-wide sequence and genetic marker datasets. RAD-Seq has been extensively utilised, both at the population level and across species, for example in the construction of phylogenetic trees. However, the consistency of RAD-Seq data generated in different laboratories, and the potential use of cross-species orthologous RAD loci in the estimation of genetic relationships, have not been widely investigated. This study describes the use of SbfI RAD-Seq data for the estimation of evolutionary relationships amongst ten teleost fish species, using previously established phylogeny as a benchmark. RESULTS: The number of orthologous SbfI RAD loci identified decreased with increasing evolutionary distance between the species, with several thousand loci conserved across five salmonid species (divergence ~50 MY), and several hundred conserved across the more distantly related teleost species (divergence ~100–360 MY). The majority (>70%) of loci identified between the more distantly related species were genic in origin, suggesting that the bias of SbfI towards genic regions is useful for identifying distant orthologs. Interspecific single nucleotide variants at each orthologous RAD locus were identified. Evolutionary relationships estimated using concatenated sequences of interspecific variants were congruent with previously published phylogenies, even for distantly (divergence up to ~360 MY) related species. CONCLUSION: Overall, this study has demonstrated that orthologous SbfI RAD loci can be identified across closely and distantly related species. This has positive implications for the repeatability of SbfI RAD-Seq and its potential to address research questions beyond the scope of the original studies. Furthermore, the concordance in tree topologies and relationships estimated in this study with published teleost phylogenies suggests that similar meta-datasets could be utilised in the prediction of evolutionary relationships across populations and species with readily available RAD-Seq datasets, but for which relationships remain uncharacterised. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13104-015-1261-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Complete mitochondrial genome of the Sakhalin sculpin Cottus amblystomopsis

The complete mitochondrial genome was sequenced in two individuals of the Sakhalin sculpin Cottus amblystomopsis. The genome sequences are 16,526 and 16,527 bp in size, and the gene arrangement, composition, and size are very similar to the other sculpin mitochondrial genomes published previously. The difference between the two genomes studied is low, 0.28%, in spite of the relatively long distance separating the localities. The data are consistent with the amphidromous life history of C. amblystomopsis, promoting gene flow even between distantly located rivers

Complete mitochondrial genome of the Amur sculpin Cottus szanaga

The complete mitochondrial genome was sequenced in two individuals of the Amur sculpin Cottus szanaga. The genome sequences are 16,518 bp in size, and the gene arrangement, composition, and size are very similar to the other sculpin genomes published previously. The low level of sequence divergence detected between the genome of C. szanaga and the GenBank complete mitochondrial genome of the Cherskii's sculpin Cottus czerskii (KJ956027) may likely be due to recent divergence, historical hybridization, or presence of a new unrecognized taxonomic unit close to C. szanaga but erroneously identified as C. czerskii

Complete mitochondrial genome of the Volk’s sculpin Cottus volki

The complete mitochondrial genome was sequenced in two individuals of the Volk's sculpin Cottus volki. The genome sequences are 16,519 and 16,536 bp in size, and the gene arrangement, composition, and size are very similar to the other sculpin mitochondrial genomes published previously. The difference between the two genomes studied is relatively high, 3.42%, which is 30% of the average interspecific divergence (8.76%) detected between seven Cottus species from the GenBank database. The data are consistent with the sedentary lifestyle in C. volki, limiting gene flow even between neighbouring rivers

Complete Mitochondrial Genomes of the Cherskii’s Sculpin Cottus czerskii

The complete mitochondrial (mt) genome is sequenced in 2 individuals of the Cherskii’s sculpin Cottus czerskii . A surprisingly high level of sequence divergence (10.3%) has been detected between the 2 genomes of C czerskii studied here and the GenBank mt genome of C czerskii (KJ956027). At the same time, a surprisingly low level of divergence (1.4%) has been detected between the GenBank C czerskii (KJ956027) and the Amur sculpin Cottus szanaga (KX762049, KX762050). We argue that the observed discrepancies are due to incorrect taxonomic identification so that the GenBank accession number KJ956027 represents actually the mt genome of C szanaga erroneously identified as C czerskii . Our results are of consequence concerning the GenBank database quality, highlighting the potential negative consequences of entry errors, which once they are introduced tend to be propagated among databases and subsequent publications. We illustrate the premise with the data on recombinant mt genome of the Siberian taimen Hucho taimen (NCBI Reference Sequence Database NC_016426.1; GenBank accession number HQ897271.1), bearing 2 introgressed fragments (≈0.9 kb [kilobase]) from 2 lenok subspecies, Brachymystax lenok and Brachymystax lenok tsinlingensis , submitted to GenBank on June 12, 2011. Since the time of submission, the H taimen recombinant mt genome leading to incorrect phylogenetic inferences was propagated in multiple subsequent publications despite the fact that nonrecombinant H taimen genomes were also available (submitted to GenBank on August 2, 2014; KJ711549, KJ711550). Other examples of recombinant sequences persisting in GenBank are also considered. A GenBank Entry Error Depositary is urgently needed to monitor and avoid a progressive accumulation of wrong biological information