Repeated Mitochondrial Capture With Limited Genomic Introgression in a Lizard Group

Abstract

Mitochondrial introgression is common among animals and is often first identified through mitonuclear discordance-discrepancies between evolutionary relationships inferred from mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and nuclear DNA (nuDNA). Over recent decades, genomic data have also revealed extensive nuclear introgression in many animal groups, with implications for genetic and phenotypic diversity. However, the extent to which mtDNA introgression corresponds to nuDNA introgression varies. Here, we investigated historical and recent introgression in the Gehyra nana-occidentalis clade, a complex group of Australian geckos with documented cases of mitonuclear discordance suggestive of repeated mtDNA introgression. We hypothesised that mitonuclear discordance in this clade reflects mtDNA introgression with substantial nuclear introgression. Despite evidence of repeated mtDNA introgression, however, we found little to no evidence of historical nuDNA introgression using exon capture and genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data. We also found no evidence of gene flow at modern contact zones and detected only a single early generation hybrid. Unsurprisingly, given these results, we found no evidence of transgressive, intermediate, or more variable morphological phenotypes in taxa with introgressed mtDNA. These findings suggest that hybridisation in this system has, at least in some cases, resulted in repeated mitochondrial introgression with little or no nuclear introgression. This pattern aligns with other studies showing limited nuDNA introgression in taxa with mitonuclear discordance, highlighting a potentially broader trend in animal radiations.