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UNUSUAL POPULATION GENETICS OF A PARASITIC NEMATODE: mtDNA VARIATION WITHIN AND AMONG POPULATIONS
Author(s) -
Blouin Michael S.,
Dame John B.,
Tarrant Christine A.,
Courtney Charles H.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
evolution
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.84
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1558-5646
pISSN - 0014-3820
DOI - 10.1111/j.1558-5646.1992.tb02052.x
Subject(s) - biology , ostertagia ostertagi , mitochondrial dna , gene flow , genetic diversity , genetic variation , population , population genetics , evolutionary biology , haplotype , nematode , genetics , zoology , ecology , gene , allele , demography , sociology
Very little is known about the distribution of genetic variance within and among populations of parasitic helminths. In this study we used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) restriction fragment analysis to describe the population genetic structure of Ostertagia ostertagi , a nematode parasite of cattle, in the United States. Estimates of within‐population mtDNA diversity are 5 to 10 times greater than typical estimates reported for species in other taxa. Although populations are genetically differentiated for a key life–history trait, greater than 98% of the total genetic diversity is partitioned within populations, and the geographic distribution of individual mtDNA haplotypes suggests high gene flow among populations.