Cornelia Jaspers

Marine invasive species have globally increasing biological and economic impacts. However, the role of hybridization and subsequent changes in microbiota structure, favoring range expansion and invasiveness remain poorly understood. In controlled experiments, recently formed hybrid populations along with ancestral control lines will be exposed to stress. We will investigate fitness effects of hybridization as well as microbiota changes using tagged amplicon sequencing in one of the most notorious marine invasive species, the comb jelly Mnemiopsis leidyi. Results will reveal whether or not hybridization leads to outbreeding depression or increased hybrid vigor and to what degree the microbiota differs among native, invasive and hybrid populations. This will help to understand fitness consequences due to hybridization and its possible contribution to acceleration of invasion success.