Divergent evolution in the genomes of closely related lacertids, Lacerta viridis and L. bilineata, and implications for speciation

摘要: Background Lacerta viridis and bilineata are sister species of European green lizards (eastern western clades, respectively) that, until recently, were grouped together as the L. complex. Genetic incompatibilities observed between lacertid populations through crossing experiments, which led to delineation two separate within The population history these processes driving divergence unknown. We constructed first high-quality de novo genome assemblies for both Illumina PacBio sequencing, with annotation support provided from transcriptome sequencing several tissues. To estimate gene flow identify factors involved in reproductive isolation, we studied their evolutionary history, identified genomic rearrangements, detected signatures selection on non-coding RNA, protein-coding genes. Findings Here show that was primarily unidirectional after split at least 1.15 million years ago. positive repertoire; mutations transcription factors; accumulation inversions; genes neural development, reproduction, behavior, well ultraviolet-response, possibly driven by sexual selection, whose contribution isolation needs be further evaluated. Conclusion combination short long sequence reads resulted one most complete lizard assemblies. characterization a diverse array features valuable insights into demographic among lizards, key differences, some candidates could have played role speciation. In addition, our study generated resources can used address conservation-related issues lacertids.