phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at o:3399 DOI 10.1016/j.ympev.2023.107787 Genomics reveals broad hybridization in deeply divergent Palearctic grass and water snakes (Natrix spp.) Understanding speciation is one of the cornerstones of biological diversity research. Currently, speciation is often understood as a continuous process of divergence that continues until genetic or other incompatibilities minimize or prevent interbreeding. The Palearctic snake genus Natrix is an ideal group to study speciation, as it comprises taxa representing distinct stages of the speciation process, ranging from widely interbreeding parapatric taxa through parapatric species with very limited gene flow in narrow hybrid zones to widely sympatric species. To understand the evolution of reproductive isolation through time, we have sequenced the genomes of all five species within this genus and two additional subspecies. We used both long-read and short-read methods to sequence and de-novo-assemble two high-quality genomes (Natrix h. helvetica, Natrix n. natrix) to their 1.7 Gb length with a contig N50 of 4.6 Mbp and 1.5 Mbp, respectively, and used these as references to assemble the remaining short-read-based genomes. Our phylogenomic analyses yielded a well-supported dated phylogeny and evidence for a surprisingly complex history of interspecific gene flow, including between widely sympatric species. Furthermore, evidence for gene flow was also found for currently allopatric species pairs. Genetic exchange among these well-defined, distinct, and several million-year-old reptile species emphasizes that speciation and maintenance of species distinctness can occur despite continued genetic exchange. eng De-Novo Identification; Read Alignment; N.-Natrix; Gene Flow; Phylogeography; Taxonomy; Astreptophora; Speciation; Helvetica; Serpentes 2024-08-20T08:56:43.497Z LOMv1.0 Author BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Schöneberg;Yannis; FN:Yannis Schöneberg END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Fritz;Uwe; FN:Uwe Fritz END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Janke;Axel; FN:Axel Janke END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Wüster;Wolfgang; FN:Wolfgang Wüster END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Rovatsos;Michail; FN:Michail Rovatsos END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Owens;John Benjamin; FN:John Benjamin Owens END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Winter;Sven; FN:Sven Winter X-ORCID:https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1890-0977 END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Arribas;Oscar; FN:Oscar Arribas END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Di Nicola;Matteo Riccardo; FN:Matteo Riccardo Di Nicola END:VCARD BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Master;Maya; FN:Maya Master END:VCARD https://w3id.org/kim/hcrt/scheme https://w3id.org/kim/hcrt/text Textdokument Text LOMv1.0 yes https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 application/pdf 5260977 https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/o:3399 https://phaidra.vetmeduni.ac.at/api/object/o:3399/thumbnail LOMv1.0 discipline