Tracking Introgression of Quinazoline M-Fluorophores from Eisenia andrei to E. fetida via Interspecific Hybrids of these Hermaphroditic Lumbricid Earthworms

Author(s): Plytycz B, Kruk J, Panz T, Su?ek M, Hofman S

Characteristic M-fluorescence detected in earthworm coelomic fluid by spectrofluorometry was originally considered as a taxonomic molecular marker of Eisenia andrei (Ea), but later it was detected also in some E. fetida (Ef) specimens and interspecific hybrids. It was assumed that M-fluorescence is encoded/controlled by hypothetical dominant/recessive M/m alleles. HPLC analysis revealed quinazoline origin of M fluorescence therefore that method was chosen to re-evaluate hypothetical gene flow from Ea to Ef via interspecific hybrids by parallel spectrofluorometric and HPLC analyses of coelomic fluid samples. These samples were retrieved from Ea (aAA), Ef (fFF), and hybrid specimens (aAF/fFA) genotyped by species-specific sequences of the haploid mitochondrial COI gene of maternal origin and the diploid 28S rRNA gene of maternal/paternal origin. The obtained results confirmed that quinazoline M-fluorophore might be transferred from Ea via Ea-derived hybrids to Ef and then fixed in the Ef species. The origin and biological function(s) of quinazoline M-fluorophore or its derivatives should be discerned.