Premium
Historical and modern neutral genetic variability in M ednyi A rctic foxes passed through a severe bottleneck
Author(s) -
Ploshnitsa A. I.,
Goltsman M. E.,
Happ G. M.,
Macdonald D. W.,
Kennedy L. J.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of zoology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.915
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1469-7998
pISSN - 0952-8369
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7998.2012.00964.x
Subject(s) - biology , genetic diversity , population bottleneck , bottleneck , population , genetic variation , genetic variability , outbreak , microsatellite , zoology , evolutionary biology , genetics , demography , genotype , allele , gene , virology , sociology , computer science , embedded system
Small isolated populations often show lower genetic variability. Demographic bottlenecks lead to loss of genetic variation too. A rctic foxes ( V ulpes lagopus ) have been isolated since the P leistocene on M ednyi and B ering I slands ( C ommander I slands). In 1970–1980, the M ednyi population passed through a severe bottleneck due to a mange outbreak. Previous studies showed lack of genetic diversity in the contemporary M ednyi population that could be due to the long history of isolation and/or the recent bottleneck. To test both factors, we analyzed the mt DNA D ‐loop fragment and five microsatellites in pre‐bottleneck M ednyi museum samples. Also, contemporary M ednyi, B ering and mainland A laskan A rctic foxes were analyzed. Registered genetic variability in historical M ednyi was higher than in contemporary M ednyi A rctic foxes, but lower than in contemporary the B ering population. Our data confirms that the bottleneck reduced an already depleted polymorphism in M ednyi A rctic foxes. Lack of genetic variability could be a reason why the M ednyi population did not recover following the outbreak of mange.