Open AccessPopulation genetic structure in a Robertsonian race of house mice: evidence from microsatellite polymorphism
Author(s) -
John F. Dallas,
François Bonhomme,
Pierre Boursot,
Janice BrittonDavidian,
Vincent Bauchau
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
heredity
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.441
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1365-2540
pISSN - 0018-067X
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2540.1998.00258.x
Subject(s) - biology , inbreeding , microsatellite , genetics , population , locus (genetics) , genetic drift , fixation (population genetics) , effective population size , house mice , allele , population bottleneck , fixation index , evolutionary biology , zoology , genetic variation , demography , gene , sociology
Genetic evidence was assessed for inbreeding and population subdivision in a Robertsonian fusion (Rb) race of the western European form of house mouse, Mus musculus domesticus , in central Belgium. Inbreeding, and the factors responsible for subdivision (genetic drift and extinction–recolonization) can theoretically influence the fixation of underdominant Rb variants. The data consisted of allele frequencies of eight microsatellite loci and of the Rb(4.12) and Rb(5.10) chromosomes. Six populations were sampled once, and a seventh was sampled successively over 3 years. No evidence for inbreeding within populations was found. Levels of between‐population subdivision were high (θ=0.15−0.39), and showed no association with either karyotype or geographical distance over 8–60 km. In addition, low values of effective size were found in the successively sampled population ( N e =5–20). Cases of significant two‐locus disequilibria were associated with the most closely linked pair of microsatellite loci ( r =0.15): also consistent with small effective sizes. These results suggest that both the lack of inbreeding, and the combined effects of genetic drift and extinction–recolonization, may promote Rb polymorphism in M. m. domesticus .