Patterns of genetic variation in the endangered European mink (Mustela lutreola L., 1761)

Autor: Elena G. Gonzalez, Santiago Palazón, Benjamín J. Gómez-Moliner, Dimitry Skumatov, Pascal Fournier, Rafael Zardoya, Andreas Kranz, Johan Michaux, M. T. Cabria
Přispěvatelé: Diputación Foral de Álava, Universidad del País Vasco, CSIC - Unidad de Recursos de Información Científica para la Investigación (URICI), European Commission, Eusko Jaurlaritza
Rok vydání: 2015
Předmět:
Phylogénie
Population Dynamics
Endangered species
population-structure
statistical tests
Évolution
mitochondrial DNA
Génétique des populations
Marqueur génétique
Mink
Phylogeny
education.field_of_study
Ecology
U10 - Informatique
mathématiques et statistiques
espèce en danger
conservation
Mustela lutreola
Europe
ECOLOGY
EVOLUTION
BEHAVIOR AND SYSTEMATICS
Genetic structure
history
Modèle mathématique
Research Article
Conservation of Natural Resources
Distribution géographique
Population
Génétique mitochondriale
Biogéographie
Zoology
vison
Biology
DNA
Mitochondrial
western population
Variation génétique
Genetic drift
biology.animal
Genetic variation
computer-program
Animals
education
Ecology
Evolution
Behavior and Systematics
Changement climatique
Genetic diversity
Histoire naturelle
Endangered Species
Genetic Drift
L60 - Taxonomie et géographie animales
Microsatellite
Genetic Variation
Bayes Theorem
microsatellite markers
biology.organism_classification
L10 - Génétique et amélioration des animaux
maximum-likelihood
U30 - Méthodes de recherche
Microsatellite Repeats
approximate bayesian computation
Zdroj: Addi. Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigación
instname
Digital.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
BMC Evolutionary Biology
Popis: [Background] The European mink (Mustela lutreola, L. 1761) is a critically endangered mustelid, which inhabits several main river drainages in Europe. Here, we assess the genetic variation of existing populations of this species, including new sampling sites and additional molecular markers (newly developed microsatellite loci specific to European mink) as compared to previous studies. Probabilistic analyses were used to examine genetic structure within and between existing populations, and to infer phylogeographic processes and past demography.
[Results] According to both mitochondrial and nuclear microsatellite markers, Northeastern (Russia, Estonia and Belarus) and Southeastern (Romania) European populations showed the highest intraspecific diversity. In contrast, Western European (France and Spain) populations were the least polymorphic, featuring a unique mitochondrial DNA haplotype. The high differentiation values detected between Eastern and Western European populations could be the result of genetic drift in the latter due to population isolation and reduction. Genetic differences among populations were further supported by Bayesian clustering and two main groups were confirmed (Eastern vs. Western Europe) along with two contained subgroups at a more local scale (Northeastern vs. Southeastern Europe; France vs. Spain).
[Conclusions] Genetic data and performed analyses support a historical scenario of stable European mink populations, not affected by Quaternary climate oscillations in the Late Pleistocene, and posterior expansion events following river connections in both North- and Southeastern European populations. This suggests an eastern refuge during glacial maxima (as already proposed for boreal and continental species). In contrast, Western Europe was colonised more recently following either natural expansions or putative human introductions. Low levels of genetic diversity observed within each studied population suggest recent bottleneck events and stress the urgent need for conservation measures to counteract the demographic decline experienced by the European mink.
This work was partially funded by three LIFE projects (“Conservación del visón europeo (Mustela lutreola) en “Castilla León” LIFE 00/NAT/E7229, La Rioja” LIFE 00/NAT/E7331 and “Álava” LIFE 00/NAT/E7335), and grants from the Diputación Foral de Álava and the University of the Basque Country (GIU 06/09) awarded to BJGM. The Basque Government (BG) also financed this study (project numbers IT317-10; IT575-13).
We acknowledge support of the publication fee by the CSIC Open Access Publication Support Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI).
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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