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Restoring and conserving coastal resilience faces increasing challenges under current climate change predictions. Oyster restoration, in particular, faces threats from alterations in precipitation, warming water temperatures, and urbanization of coastlines that dramatically change salinity patterns, foster the proliferation and spread disease, and disrupt habitat connectivity, respectively. New York City (NYC) coastal waters, once home to a booming oyster fishery for eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica), are now nearly devoid of live oyster reefs. Oyster restoration in urban estuaries is motivated by the synergistic ecosystem benefits this native keystone species can deliver. Recent surveys have documented substantial remnant populations of adult oysters in the upper low salinity zone of the Hudson/Raritan Estuary (HRE) near Tarrytown, NY. This study assessed fitness-related performance across the HRE salinity gradient to evaluate habitat suitability on an estuarine scale. Oysters were hatchery-produced from wild, moderate-salinity broodstock, then outplanted for measurement of growth, survival, reproduction and disease prevalence over two years. Survival was generally higher in the lower salinity river sites and in the higher salinity Jamaica Bay sites relative to mesohaline NYC harbor sites. Growth rate was highest in Jamaica Bay and had high variation among other sites. Surprisingly, the highest proportion of individuals with sex-differentiated gametes and the highest average gonad maturation index was found at a low salinity site. Consistent with the advanced gametogenesis measured in experimental animals at low salinity, annual wild recruitment was documented near the low salinity remnant population in each of five monitored years. These results suggest that the remnant HRE oyster population is a robust, self-sustaining population that can be leveraged to support restoration of subpopulations in other parts of the estuary, but further research is required to determine if the mesohaline and near-ocean reaches of the HRE can support the full oyster life cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The eastern oyster ( Crassostrea virginica Gmelin) is an economically and ecologically valuable marine bivalve occurring in the Gulf of Mexico. This study builds upon previous research that identified two divergent populations of eastern oysters in the western Gulf of Mexico. Allelic and genotypic patterns from 11 microsatellite markers were used to assess genetic structure and migration between the previously described oyster populations in Texas. The main findings are as follows: (1) there are two distinct populations ( FST = 0.392, P < 0.001) of oysters that overlap in the Corpus Christi/Aransas Bay estuarine complex in Texas, (2) the distribution of genotypes among individuals in the contact zone suggests limited hybridization between populations, (3) the variables of salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, turbidity and depth are not correlated with allele frequencies on reefs in the contact zone or when analyzed across Texas, and (4) there is little evidence of directional selection acting on the loci assayed here, although patterns at four markers suggested the influence of balancing selection based on outlier analyses. These results are consistent with long-term historical isolation between populations, followed by secondary contact. Recent hydrological changes in the area of secondary contact may be promoting migration in areas that were previously inhospitable to eastern oysters, and observed differences in the timing of spawning may limit hybridization between populations. Comparison of these findings with the results of an earlier study of oysters in Texas suggests that the secondary contact zone has shifted approximately 27 km north, in as little as a 23-year span. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The degree of population structure within species often varies considerably among loci. This makes it difficult to determine whether observed variance reflects neutral-drift stochasticity or locus-specific selection at one or more loci. This uncertainty is exacerbated when evolutionary equilibrium cannot be assumed and/or admixture potentially inflates genomic variance. Thus, the value of a ‘genome scan’, where locus-specific summary statistics are compared with a simulated neutral distribution among loci, may be limited in secondary contact zones if the null distribution is sensitive to the timing of secondary contact. Of particular interest here is the wide variance previously observed in locus-specific patterns of population structure between Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico populations of eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica. To test the robustness of an equilibrium null model, we compared among-locus distributions of FST simulated under migration-drift equilibrium and several nonequilibrium secondary contact histories. We then tested for evidence of divergent selection between two oyster populations on either side of a secondary contact zone using 215 amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) loci. Constant-migration equilibrium and nonequilibrium secondary-contact simulations produced equivalent distributions of FST when anchored by the global mean FST observed in oysters, 0.0917. The 99th quantile of simulated neutral FST encompassed most of the variation among oyster loci. Three AFLP loci exhibited FST values higher than this threshold. Although no locus was significant after correcting for multiple tests, our results show in geographically clinal organisms: AFLPs can efficiently characterize the genomic distribution of FST; equilibrium models can be used to evaluate outliers; these procedures help focus research on genomic regions of interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Perkinsus marinus, a protozoan parasite of the eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica, causes Dermo disease which limits fecundity and causes high mortality in host populations. The long-term efficacy of management strategies for suppressing this disease in both aquaculture and restoration settings depends on the potential rate of evolutionary response by P. marinus. Sexual reproduction has never been demonstrated in vitro or in previous population genetic studies. We developed high resolution microsatellite markers and amplified alleles directly from infected oyster genomic DNA. Of 336 infected oysters from four populations between Massachusetts and Florida, 129 (48%) appeared to be infected with a single parasite genotype and were subjected to population genetic analyses assuming diploidy. The great diversity of multilocus genotypes observed is incompatible with strictly clonal reproduction. Substantial heterozygote deficits in three populations suggest that sexual reproduction often involves inbreeding. At the same time, significant multilocus linkage disequilibrium occurred in most sampled populations, and several genotypes were sampled repeatedly in each of two populations, indicating that asexual reproduction also occurs in P. marinus populations. Interestingly, where this parasite has recently expanded its range, lower strain diversity, significant heterozygote excess, and highly heterozygous multilocus genotypes suggests clonal propagation of recent recombinants. Taken together, these data suggest that P. marinus employs multiple reproductive modes, and that over the short term, selection acts upon independent parasite lineages rather than upon individual loci in a cohesive, interbreeding population. Nevertheless, high genotypic diversity is the evolutionary legacy of sex in P. marinus. Anthropogenic movement of infected oysters may increase outcrossing opportunities, potentially facilitating rapid evolution of this parasite. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]