An international team of researchers led by a University of Louisiana at Lafayette scientist has shed light on why some invasive species adapt and thrive in new environments better than others.
Dr. Nic Kooyers, an associate professor in the School of Biological Sciences, co-led a group of 51 researchers who analyzed one of the largest samplings of an invasive plant ever collected.
The team utilized white clover from six continents as a model system to examine the process of species invasion. The plant, which is native to central Asia and Europe, was introduced across the world centuries ago during colonization.
Unlike many invasive species, though, white clover isn’t without value in some places, including as a forage crop for livestock. In the case of the Kooyers-led study, the plant has proven itself valuable to science thanks to its abundance and hardiness.
As part of a multi-year study, researchers sequenced the genomes – or analyzed the DNA – of 2,660 white clover specimens. The specimens included both native and introduced populations that were collected by scientists.
Findings, which were published recently in Nature Ecology & Evolution, indicate that structural variations – insertions or deletions of DNA in the genome – spurred white clover’s ability to adapt quickly and widely. “We see some of the same things are happening in different areas,” Kooyers explained. “The same large structural variants seem to underlie adaptation in different regions.”
Structural variations enable large-scale genetic changes. White clover, in effect, doesn’t require generations of new genetic mutation to proliferate in different places or climates because it already has enough genetic diversity to reproduce quickly and survive.
“One of the potential applications of these findings is that by understanding the amount of structural variants and genetic diversity in a species, it might help us predict which species are likely to adapt following invasion,” Kooyers said.
Although existing research indicates that rapid evolutionary responses in many plants occur with greater frequency than previously assumed, the underlying adaptive processes haven’t been clearly understood, Kooyers added.
“Our research has shown something empirically that’s been thought to occur for almost 100 years. So, it provides clues about which species are likely to adapt following invasion and are most important to target for pre-introduction measures or to avoid introducing,” he explained.
Kooyers was the study’s principal investigator. Dr. Brandon Hendrickson, a visiting assistant professor at UL Lafayette was first author. Other study leaders include Drs. Paul Battlay and Kathryn Hodgins of Monash University in Australia and Dr. Marc Johnson of the University of Toronto, Mississauga. “The strength of this study – and its findings – rest on the unprecedented level of collaboration from across the world,” Kooyers said.
Photo caption: An international study led by UL Lafayette’s Dr. Nic Kooyers, an associate professor in the Department of Biology, has shed light on why some invasive species adapt and thrive more readily than others. Image credit: University of Louisiana at Lafayette