Biology subjects

Vollestad, L. A.

Publications and source records attributed to Vollestad, L. A..

5 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

A mosaic of genomic architectures underpins parasitism loss in a jawless vertebrate

Lampreys are the only ancestrally parasitic vertebrate lineage, yet parasitism has been repeatedly lost alongside a suite of life-history changes, such as loss of migration and juvenile feeding and accelerated maturation. Combining whole-genome resequencing, haplotype-resolved assemblies, hybrid-zone genotyping, multi-tissue transcriptomics, and sperm phenotyping, we map this life-history syndrome in European Lampetra to six chromosomes spanning a mosaic of genomic architectures: a [~]20 Mb low-recombination region on chromosome 1 lacking chromosomal rearrangements within Lampetra but involving inter-specific rearrangements across deep lamprey lineages; a translocated inversion with ecotype-dependent sperm-velocity effects; and ecotype-divergent deletions overlapping genes crucial for nervous system (CNTNAP2) and reproductive development (FSHR). However, this genomic basis is not shared with a convergent sister lineage, pointing to independent routes to a recurring life-history transition in lampreys.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2024

Comparison of whole-genome assemblies of European river lamprey (Lampetra fluviatilis) and brook lamprey (Lampetra planeri)

We present haplotype-resolved whole-genome assemblies from one individual European river lamprey (Lampetra fluviatilis) and one individual brook lamprey (Lampetra planeri), usually regarded as sister species. The genome assembly of L. fluviatilis consists of pseudo-haplotype one, spanning 1073 Mb and pseudo-haplotype two, spanning 963 Mb. Likewise for the L. planeri specimen, the genome assembly spans 1049 Mb and 960 Mb for pseudo-haplotypes one and two, respectively. Both the L. fluviatilis pseudo-haplotypes have been scaffolded into 82 pseudo-chromosomes, with the same number for the L. planeri pseudo-haplotypes. All four pseudo-haplotype assemblies were annotated, identifying 21,479 and 16,973 genes in pseudo-haplotypes one and two for L. fluviatilis, and 24,961 and 21,668 genes in pseudo-haplotypes one and two for L. planeri. A comparison of the genomes of L. fluviatilis and L. planeri, alongside a separate chromosome level assembly of L. fluviatilis from the UK, indicates that they form a species complex, potentially representing distinct ecotypes. This is further supported by phylogenetic analyses of the three reference Lampetra genomes in addition to sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus).

genomics↗

bioRxiv2019

Estimating cause- and size- specific mortality hazard rates using mark-recapture-recovery data

O_LIEvidence-based management of natural populations under strong human influence frequently requires not only estimates of survival but also knowledge about how much mortality is due to anthropogenic versus natural causes. This is the case particularly when individuals vary in their vulnerability to different causes of mortality due to traits, life-history stages, or locations. C_LIO_LIHere, we estimated harvest and background (other cause) mortality of a landlocked migratory salmonid over half a century. In doing so, we quantified among-individual variation in vulnerability to cause-specific mortality resulting from differences in body size and spawning location relative to a hydropower dam. C_LIO_LIWe constructed a multistate mark-recapture model to estimate harvest and background mortality hazard rates as functions of a discrete state (spawning location) and an individual time-varying covariate (body size). We further accounted for among-year variation in mortality and migratory behavior and fit the model to a unique 50-year time-series of mark-recapture-recovery data on brown trout (Salmo trutta) in Norway. C_LIO_LIHarvest mortality was highest for intermediate-sized trout, and outweighed background mortality for most of the observed size range. Background mortality decreased with body size for trout spawning below the dam and increased for those spawning above. All vital rates varied substantially over time, but a trend was evident only in estimates of fishers reporting rate, which decreased from over 50% to less than 10% throughout the study period. C_LIO_LIWe highlight the importance of body size for cause-specific mortality and demonstrate how this can be estimated using a novel hazard rate parameterisation for mark-recapture models. Our approach allows estimating effects of individual traits and environment on cause-specific mortality without confounding, and provides an intuitive way to estimate temporal patterns within and correlation among different mortality sources. C_LI

ecology↗

bioRxiv2019

A 50-year series of mark-recapture data of large-sized brown trout (Salmo trutta) from Lake Mjosa, Norway

BackgroundLong-term data from marked animals provide a wealth of opportunities for studies with high relevance to both basic ecological understanding and successful management in a changing world. The key strength of such data is that they allow to quantify individual variation in vital rates (e.g. survival, growth, reproduction) and then link it mechanistically to dynamics at the population level. However, maintaining the collection of individual-based data over long time periods comes with large logistic efforts and costs, and studies spanning over decades are therefore rare. This is the case particularly for migratory aquatic species, many of which are in decline despite their high ecological, cultural, and economical value. New informationThis paper describes two unique publicly available time series of individual-based data originating from a 51-year mark-recapture study of a land-locked population of large-sized migratory brown trout (Salmo trutta) in Norway: the Hunder trout. In the period 1966-2015, nearly 14,000 adult Hunder trout have been captured and individually marked during their spawning migration from Lake Mjosa to the river Gubrandsdalsl[a]gen. Almost a third of those individuals were later recaptured alive during a later spawning run and/or captured by fishermen and reported dead or alive. This has resulted in the first data series: a mark-recapture-recovery dataset spanning half a century and more than 18,000 capture records. The second data series consists of additional data on juvenile and adult growth and life-history schedules from half of the marked individuals, obtained by means of scale sample analysis. The two datasets offer a rare long-term perspective on individuals and population dynamics and provide unique opportunities to gain insights into questions surrounding management, conservation, and restoration of migratory salmonid populations and freshwater ecosystems.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2017

The grayling genome reveals selection on gene expression regulation after whole genome duplication

Whole genome duplication (WGD) has been a major evolutionary driver of increased genomic complexity in vertebrates. One such event occurred in the salmonid family ~80 million years ago (Ss4R) giving rise to a plethora of structural and regulatory duplicate-driven divergence, making salmonids an exemplary system to investigate the evolutionary consequences of WGD. Here, we present a draft genome assembly of European grayling (Thymallus thymallus) and use this in a comparative framework to study evolution of gene regulation following WGD. Among the Ss4R duplicates identified in European grayling and Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), one third reflect non-neutral tissue expression evolution, with strong purifying selection, maintained over ~50 million years. Of these, the majority reflect conserved tissue regulation under strong selective constraints related to brain and neural-related functions, as well as higher-order protein-protein interactions. A small subset of the duplicates has evolved tissue regulatory expression divergence in a common ancestor, which have been subsequently conserved in both lineages, suggestive of adaptive divergence following WGD. These candidates for adaptive tissue expression divergence have elevated rates of protein coding- and promoter-sequence evolution and are enriched for immune- and lipid metabolism ontology terms. Lastly, lineage-specific duplicate divergence points towards underlying differences in adaptive pressures on expression regulation in the non-anadromous grayling versus the anadromous Atlantic salmon.\n\nOur findings enhance our understanding of the role of WGD in genome evolution and highlights cases of regulatory divergence of Ss4R duplicates, possibly related to a niche shift in early salmonid evolution.

genomics↗