Evolutionary mechanisms underlying introgression in invasive Chinese mitten crabs

Evolutionary mechanisms underlying introgression in invasive Chinese mitten crabs | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Evolutionary mechanisms underlying introgression in invasive Chinese mitten crabs Christine Ewers, Heleen Keirsebelik, Chenghui Wang, Jun Wang, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9149727/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 4 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Invasive species are one of the main drivers of global change. Gene flow among divergent lineages in the introduced range is frequently observed and has the potential to increase genetic diversity and adaptive potential. How much it actually contributes to invasive success has remained largely uncertain. A highly abundant Chinese mitten crab population in the Belgian Scheldt contains mitochondrial DNA of Japanese mitten crabs (hereafter japonica mtDNA), indicating introgression that is absent from other introduced populations, for example in the German Havel river. Neither the genome-wide extent of this introgression nor its fitness consequences have been investigated. We utilized low coverage whole genome sequencing data of the two introduced populations from the Scheldt and Havel that do and do not contain japonica mtDNA, respectively as well as native populations. We confirm that the japonica mtDNA originates from Russia. The nuclear genomes of the introduced population with 70% japonica mtDNA have at most 10% Russian mitten crab ancestry, revealing mitonuclear discordance. This mitonuclear discordance is more likely caused by extreme demographic events and genetic drift, rather than positive selection on japonica mitochondrial genomes: a common garden experiment revealed no differences in physiological response to stress between populations with and without japonica mtDNA, the japonica mtDNA frequency did not increase over time, and forward genetic simulations generated the observed mitonuclear discordance in the absence of selection in small populations. Based on the available data, extreme demographic events and drift are likely causative agents of mitonuclear discordance in invasive mitten crabs. Biological sciences/Genetics/Genetic hybridization Biological sciences/Evolution/Evolutionary genetics Biological sciences/Ecology/Invasive species lcWGS species introductions forward genetic simulation aerobic scope glucose lipids Full Text Additional Declarations There is no duality of interest Supplementary Files TableS2mtHaplotypeMatching.xlsx Table S2 TableS1WGSmaster.xlsx Table S1 TableS4OverviewTableExperimentalResults.xlsx Table S4 TableS3COITimeseries.xlsx Table S3 Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviewer # 1 agreed at journal 30 Apr, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 21 Apr, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 17 Mar, 2026 First submitted to journal 17 Mar, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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