Seasonal variation of genotypes and reproductive plasticity in a facultative clonal freshwater invertebrate animal (Hydra oligactis) living in a temperate lake

Facultative sexual organisms combine sexual and asexual reproduction within a single life cycle, often switching between reproductive modes depending on environmental conditions. These organisms frequently inhabit variable seasonal environments, where favorable periods alternate with unfavorable periods, generating temporally varying selection pressures that strongly influence life history decisions and hence population dynamics. Due to the rapidly accelerating changes in our global environment today, understanding the population dynamics and genetic changes in facultative sexual populations inhabiting seasonal environments is critical to assess and prepare for additional challenges that will affect such ecosystems. In this study, we aimed at obtaining insights into the seasonal population dynamics of the facultative sexual freshwater cnidarian Hydra oligactis through a combination of restriction site-associated sequencing (RAD-Seq) genotyping and the collection of phenotypic data on the reproductive strategy of field-collected hydra strains in a standard laboratory environment. We reliably detected 42 MlGs from the 121 collected hydra strains. Most of MLGs (N = 35, 83.3%) were detected in only one season. Five MLGs (11.9%) were detected in two seasons, one (2.4%) in three seasons and one (2.4%) in all four seasons. We found no significant genetic change during the 2 years in the study population. Clone lines were detected between seasons and even years, suggesting that clonal lineages can persist for a long time in a natural population. We also found that distinct genotypes differ in sexual reproduction frequency, but these differences did not affect whether genotypes reappeared across samplings. Our study provides key insights into the biology of natural hydra populations, while also contributing to understanding the population biology of facultative sexual species inhabiting freshwater ecosystems.

Automated summary

Understanding the population dynamics and genetic changes in facultative sexual populations inhabiting seasonal environments is critical to assess and prepare for additional challenges that will affect ecosystems. This study provides insights into the seasonal population dynamics and presence of clone lineages in a facultative sexual species, Hydra oligactis, using genotyping and observations on reproductive strategies.