Genome wide patterns of ancestry in an emerging hybrid lineage of sculpins (Cottus, Pisces)

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Since the application of genetic methods has become possible for non-model species, an increasing number of studies are devoted to cases of natural hybridization. This process receives attention for its potential to explain the emergence of evolutionary novelty. Aside of this, hybrids can be exploited to identify the genetic basis for evolutionary divergence between the parental species because differentiated traits segregate in hybrid offspring where they can be identified using appropriate genetic and statistical approaches. Up to now, a thorough demonstration that hybridization indeed affects evolutionary change is still lacking in animals. This study focuses on a likely case of hybrid speciation in which two species of fish (Cottus) have interbred to give rise to a hybrid lineage with a new ecological potential to invade disturbed habitats. Massively parallel sequencing will be applied to perform a genomewide screen to identify genetic factors that are associated with the hybrids success. Support for the idea that hybridization affects evolutionary processes, can be obtained when a mixed ancestry is demonstrated for the genetic basis for ecological success. The fact that interbreeding continues among the hybrid lineage and the parental species locally can be exploited for fitness assays which permits to assess the evolutionary significance of hybrid genotypes in natural settings.