Liebeke Manuel, Bruford Michael W, Donnelly Robert K, Ebbels Timothy M D, Hao Jie, Kille Peter, Lahive Elma, Madison Rachael M, Morgan A John, Pinto-Juma Gabriela A, Spurgeon David J, Svendsen Claus, Bundy Jacob G
Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
School of Biosciences, University of Cardiff, Cardiff, UK.
Biol Lett. 2014 Sep;10(9). doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2014.0615.
Molecular genetic methods can distinguish divergent evolutionary lineages in what previously appeared to be single species, but it is not always clear what functional differences exist between such cryptic species. We used a metabolomic approach to profile biochemical phenotype (metabotype) differences between two putative cryptic species of the earthworm Lumbricus rubellus. There were no straightforward metabolite biomarkers of lineage, i.e. no metabolites that were always at higher concentration in one lineage. Multivariate methods, however, identified a small number of metabolites that together helped distinguish the lineages, including uncommon metabolites such as Nε-trimethyllysine, which is not usually found at high concentrations. This approach could be useful for characterizing functional trait differences, especially as it is applicable to essentially any species group, irrespective of its genome sequencing status.
分子遗传学方法能够在先前看似单一物种的群体中区分出不同的进化谱系，但这些隐性物种之间存在哪些功能差异却并不总是清晰明了。我们采用代谢组学方法来剖析赤子爱胜蚓两个假定的隐性物种之间的生化表型（代谢型）差异。不存在直接的谱系代谢物生物标志物，即没有哪种代谢物在一个谱系中的浓度总是更高。然而，多变量方法识别出了少量共同有助于区分谱系的代谢物，包括一些不常见的代谢物，如Nε-三甲基赖氨酸，其通常不会以高浓度存在。这种方法对于表征功能性状差异可能会很有用，特别是因为它基本上适用于任何物种群体，无论其基因组测序状况如何。
