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- Küpper, Clemens, et al.
(författare)
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Heterozygosity-fitness correlations of conserved microsatellite markers in Kentish plovers Charadrius alexandrinus
- 2010
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Ingår i: Molecular Ecology. - 1365-294X. ; 19:23, s. 5172-5185
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Abstract Heterozygosity-fitness correlations (HFCs) are frequently used to examine the relationship between genetic diversity and fitness. Most studies have reported positive HFCs, although there is a strong bias towards investigating HFCs in genetically impoverished populations. We investigated HFCs in a large genetically diverse breeding population of Kentish plovers Charadrius alexandrinus in southern Turkey. This small shorebird exhibits highly variable mating and care systems, and it is becoming an ecological model species to understand breeding system evolution. Using 11 conserved and six anonymous microsatellite markers, we tested whether and how heterozygosity was associated with chick survival, tarsus and body mass growth controlling for nongenetic effects (chick sex, hatching date, length of biparental care and site quality) that influence survival and growth. There was no genome-wide effect of heterozygosity on fitness, and we did not find any significant effects of heterozygosity on growth rates. However, two of the 11 conserved markers displayed an association with offspring survival: one marker showed a positive HFC, whereas the other marker showed a negative HFC. Heterozygosity at three further conserved loci showed significant interaction with nongenetic variables. In contrast, heterozygosity based on anonymous microsatellite loci was not associated with fitness or growth. Markers that were correlated with chick survival were not more likely to be located in exons or introns than other markers that lacked this association.
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| 2. |
- Küpper, Clemens, et al.
(författare)
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Kentish versus Snowy Plover: Phenotypic and Genetic Analyses of Charadrius alexandrinus Reveal Divergence of Eurasian and American Subspecies
- 2009
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Ingår i: Auk. - 0004-8038. ; 126:4, s. 839-852
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Abstract.—Many shorebird species have widespread geographic distributions comprising several continents. Because shorebirds are excellent flyers and can migrate large distances, it is often unclear whether reproductive barriers between subspecies and populations from different continents exist. Kentish–Snowy Plovers (Charadrius alexandrinus) are cosmopolitan shorebirds. Whether the American and Eurasian subspecies—Snowy Plover and Kentish Plover, respectively—constitute a single species is the subject of a longstanding debate. We examined the divergence between American and Eurasian populations to reassess the current taxonomy by comparing genetic and phenotypic characters of the American subspecies C. a. nivosus and the Eurasian subspecies C. a. alexandrinus from seven populations. Genetic analyses revealed that American and Eurasian populations have strongly diverged, the Kentish Plover being more closely related to the White-fronted Plover (C. marginatus) than to the Snowy Plover. These results were consistent across all assessed nuclear markers (26 microsatellites and a partial CHD sequence) and two mitochondrial markers (ND3 and ATPase 6/8). Within subspecies, populations sampled across large geographic distances were not genetically differentiated (all Fst ≤ 0.01 and all Φst ≤ 0.06), which suggests panmixia. Snowy Plovers differed morphologically from Kentish Plovers, having significantly shorter tarsi and wings. Chick plumage and calls also may serve as diagnostic characters to distinguish Snowy and Kentish plovers, although more data are needed to quantify these differences. Our combined results suggest that the taxonomic status of C. alexandrinus needs to be revised, and we propose that Kentish Plover and Snowy Plover be recognized as separate species: C. alexandrinus and C. nivosus, respectively.
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