Departures from Mendelian inheritance patterns in an experimental hybrid rattlesnake colony

Largotta, Nicolas 

largottn@kean.edu

Biology Department                                                                                                                                         

Kean University                                                                                                                                                 

Union, New Jersey USA

Levine, Brenna                                                                                                                                                  

Biology Department                                                                                                                                         

Kean University                                                                                                                                                 

Union, New Jersey USA   

Chiricahua Desert Museum                                                                                                                              

Rodeo, New Mexico USA

Booth, Warren                                                                                                                                           

Department of Entomology                                                                                                                         

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University                                                                                       

Blacksburg, Virginia USA     

Chiricahua Desert Museum                                                                                                                              

Rodeo, New Mexico USA

Schuett, Gordon W.                                                                                                                                                          

Biology Department | Neuroscience Institute                                                                                                   

Georgia State University                                                                                                                                 

Atlanta, Georgia USA   

Chiricahua Desert Museum                                                                                                                              

Rodeo, New Mexico USA

Wuster, Wolfgang                                                                                                                                       

Molecular Ecology and Evolution at Bangor (MEEB)                                                                              

School of Environmental and Natural Sciences

Bangor University                                                                                                                                              

Wales, UK       

Chiricahua Desert Museum                                                                                                                              

Rodeo, New Mexico USA

Hybridization between even closely related species can generate genomic incompatibilities in the offspring, leading to departures from expected patterns of Mendelian inheritance. We investigated this phenomenon in an experimental colony of Mojave Rattlesnakes (Crotalus scutulatus) and Prairie Rattlesnakes (Crotalus viridis) and their hybrid offspring. We performed whole-genome re-sequencing on two non-hybrid parents (C. scutulatus x C. viridis) and their four F1 hybrid offspring to characterize genetic relatedness, with sequencing reads aligned to the Prairie Rattlesnake reference genome. Our initial attempts at standard genomic relatedness analysis revealed unexpected patterns of inheritance among parents and offspring. We confirmed parentage of the offspring via analysis of a SNP data set filtered to be free of species-informative SNPs. We then quantified genome-wide Mendelian incompatibilities for the mother/father/offspring triads. These preliminary findings contribute to our understanding of how hybridization among rattlesnake species disrupts expected inheritance patterns, with broader implications for evolution in natural hybrid zones.