Genetic structure of the white‐footed mouse in the context of the emergence of Lyme disease in southern Québec

Ecology and Evolution

Anita Rogic¹  Nathalie Tessier²  Pierre Legendre²  François-Joseph Lapointe² 

[1] Redpath Museum, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada;Département de sciences biologiques, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada

关键词: Barriers;    climate change;    fragmentation;    gene flow;    Lyme disease;    Peromyscus leucopus;   

DOI  :  10.1002/ece3.620

来源: Wiley

【 摘 要 】

Abstract

The white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) has expanded its northern limit into southern Québec over the last few decades. P. leucopus is a great disperser and colonizer and is of particular interest because it is considered a primary reservoir for the spirochete bacterium that causes Lyme disease. There is no current information on the gene flow between mouse populations on the mountains and forest fragments found scattered throughout the Montérégie region in southern Québec, and whether various landscape barriers have an effect on their dispersal. We conducted a population genetics analysis on eleven P. leucopus populations using eleven microsatellite markers and showed that isolation by distance was weak, yet barriers were effective. The agricultural matrix had the least effect on gene flow, whereas highways and main rivers were effective barriers. The abundance of ticks collected from mice varied within the study area. Both ticks and mice were screened for the presence of the spirochete bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, and we predicted areas of greater risk for Lyme disease. Merging our results with ongoing Lyme disease surveillance programs will help determine the future threat of this disease in Québec, and will contribute toward disease prevention and management strategies throughout fragmented landscapes in southern Canada.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2013 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.