Tanja Adnađević
Institute for Biological Research "Siniša Stanković", University of BelgradeDepartment of Genetic Research
Despota Stefana Blvd. 142
Belgrade, 11060
Serbia
Abstracts (first author)
Reconstructing the origin and spread of yellow-necked mouse Apodemus flavicollis (Rodentia, Muridae) in the Balkans
PDF
Summary:
The reconstruction of the glacial and postglacial history of species has been in a focus of many genetic researches. A comparative analysis of the levels and patterns of genetic variation across a range of Palaearctic animal taxa has revealed the existence of refugia in the Iberian, Italian and the Balkan peninsula. Numerous studies described the Serbia as a meeting point of different recolonization routes of A. flavicollis. The aim of this study is to assess the population divergence and effects of present and past microevolutionary processes on genetic differentiation of populations. Due to the existence of different natural barriers between populations, we expected to find different genetic lineages that survived last glaciations in independent local Balkan refugia. By using AFLPs, we found evidence for significant differences in genetic diversity and genetic differentiation between four populations that are relatively close in space, but separated by major barriers such as rivers. The analyzed populations formed three clusters, corresponding to the three genetic lineages that survived last glaciations in the Balkan refugia where they diverged separately. In silico data sets of genetic polymorphism under specified scenarios were generated by forwards-in-time and backwards-in-time simulators in order to describe the evolutionary history and genetic architecture of a species. The comparison of simulated data and real samples suggests that population divergence in A. flavicollis can be best explained through complicated migration scheme that includes spatial expansion followed by island model of population structure. The observed patterns are reviewed in terms of defining phylogeographic relationships among extant populations. In order to better understand the evolutionary history of the other species in Balkan refugia, divergence time estimates and the effects of geographic barriers to gene flow in general are going to be discussed
