Phylogenomics of ʻēkaha kū moana: insights for future biodiversity assessments

Abstract

Phylogenomics revolutionizes our understanding of evolutionary relationships among organisms by harnessing extensive genomic data. This approach provides unparalleled insights into evolutionary history by leveraging large-scale genomic data from multiple genes or entire genomes, arguably surpassing the limitations of single-gene studies. Phylogenomics offers enhanced accuracy and resolution, accounting for diverse genetic changes like mutations, insertions, deletions, and structural variations across genomes, ensuring robust evolutionary reconstructions. This method enables the elucidation of complex evolutionary patterns, estimation of species divergence times, and illumination of evolutionary processes such as adaptation and selection pressures. Moreover, phylogenomic studies are pivotal in informing conservation policies by delineating genetic relationships and evolutionary histories guiding efforts to understand biodiversity, genetic diversity, and adaptive potential. This thesis employed phylogenomic methods to assess the evolutionary relationships among antipatharians (black corals), specifically black corals (in Hawaiian ʻēkaha kū moana) collected across the Hawaiian Archipelago. The first thesis chapter details the discovery of the first mitogenome from Cirrhipathes (Cirrhipathes cf. anguina LS-2022), collected in Kauaʻi, Hawaiʻi, while the second chapter presents complete mitochondrial genomes from ten individuals across six antipatharian species (Antipathes grandis, Antipathes griggi, Aphanipathes verticillata, Cirrhipathes cf. anguina, Myriopathes cf. ulex and Stichopathes sp.) sampled from the Main and Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. These investigations provide critical insights into the evolutionary framework of ʻēkaha kū moana in the Hawaiian Archipelago, contributing substantially to our understanding of their genetic diversity.