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Selection forces that favour different phenotypes in different environments can change frequencies of genes between populations along environmental clines. Clines are also compatible with balancing forces, such as negative frequency-dependent selection (NFDS), which maintains phenotypic polymorphisms within populations. For example, NFDS is hypothesized to maintain partial migration, a dimorphic behavioural trait prominent in species where only a fraction of the population seasonally migrates. Overall, NFDS is believed to be a common phenomenon in nature, yet a scarcity of studies were published linking naturally occurring allelic variation with bimodal or multimodal phenotypes and balancing selection. We applied a Pool-seq approach and detected selection on alleles associated with environmental variables along a North-South gradient in western North American caribou, a species displaying partially migratory behaviour. On 51 loci, we found a signature of balancing selection, which could be related to NFDS and ultimately the maintenance of the phenotypic polymorphisms known within these populations. Yet, remarkably, we detected directional selection on a locus when our sample was divided into two behaviourally distinctive groups regardless of geographic provenance (a subset of GPS-collared migratory or sedentary individuals), indicating that, within populations, phenotypically homogeneous groups were genetically distinctive. Loci under selection were linked to functional genes involved in oxidative stress response, body development and taste perception. Overall, results indicated genetic differentiation along an environmental gradient of caribou populations, which we found characterized by genes potentially undergoing balancing selection. We suggest that the underlining balancing force, NFDS, plays a strong role within populations harbouring multiple haplotypes and phenotypes, as it is the norm in animals, plants and humans too., (© 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Understanding the population structure of tropical anguillids residing in the Pacific is vital for their conservation management. Here, the population genetic structure of five sympatric freshwater eels ( Anguilla marmorata Quoy & Gaimard, A. megastoma Kaup, A. obscura Steindachner, A. reinhardtii Günther and A. australis Richardson) across 11 western South Pacific (WSP) islands was investigated based on partial nucleotide sequences of the mtDNA control region and the nuclear GTH2b genes of 288 newly collected samples jointly with existing sequences. WSP anguillids are characterised by overall high levels of genetic diversity. Both mtDNA and nuclear sequences provided no evidence for distinct geographic clines or barriers in any of the species across the WSP. The occurrence of admixed individuals between A. marmorata and A. megastoma was confirmed, and a new possible occurrence of a further species was revealed ( A. interioris Whitley on Bougainville Island). All species showed evidence for demographic population growth in the Pleistocene, and a subsequent population reduction for A. megastoma . Common spawning grounds and mixing of larvae by ocean currents could promote the lack of pronounced isolation by distance, a finding that has significant implications for the future management of anguillids in the area.