Microsatellite markers confirm extensive population fragmentation of the endangered Balkan palaeoendemic Martino’s vole (Dinaromys bogdanovi)

0341732 - ÚBO 2011 RIV NL eng J - Journal Article
Bužan, E. V. - Kryštufek, B. - Bryja, Josef
Microsatellite markers confirm extensive population fragmentation of the endangered Balkan palaeoendemic Martino’s vole (Dinaromys bogdanovi).
Conservation Genetics. Roč. 11, č. 5 (2010), s. 1783-1794. ISSN 1566-0621. E-ISSN 1572-9737
R&D Projects: GA MŠMT LC06073; GA MŠMT MEB090802
Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z60930519
Keywords : population structure * conservation management * spatial genetics * metapopulation
Subject RIV: EB - Genetics ; Molecular Biology
Impact factor: 1.255, year: 2010

The Martino’s vole is an endangered rodent endemic to the western Balkan Peninsula. By scoring eight microsatellite loci in 110 individual Martino’s voles originating from 27 locations throughout the species range, we analysed genetic variation at both the intra- and interpopulation level. Factorial correspondence analysis, Bayesian analyses, and allele sharing distances divided individuals into three phylogroups (Northwestern, Central, and Southeastern), thus providing independent support for phylogeographic structuring, a pattern that has been described in previous studies based on mitochondrial DNA. Spatial genetic analyses showed that populations are highly fragmented, even in those areas with the highest population densities. Contrary to previous opinion, low effective population size and very limited gene flow between remaining populations suggest that the long-term existence of the Martino’s vole might not be secure, even in populations that live in optimal habitats.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0184624