Strong population genetic structuring in an annual fish, Nothobranchius furzeri, suggests multiple savannah refugia in southern Mozambique

BMC Evolutionary Biology

Research Article

Martin Reichard¹  Radim Blažek¹  Matej Polačik¹  Veronika Bartáková²  Josef Bryja²  Karel Janko³  Kathrin Reichwald⁴  Alessandro Cellerino⁵ 

[1] Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Květná 8, 603 65, Brno, Czech Republic;Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Květná 8, 603 65, Brno, Czech Republic;Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, 611 37, Brno, Czech Republic;Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Květná 8, 603 65, Brno, Czech Republic;Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Veveří 97, 602 00, Brno, Czech Republic;Leibniz Institute for Age Research – Fritz Lipmann Institute, Beutenbergstrasse 11, 07745, Jena, Germany;Leibniz Institute for Age Research – Fritz Lipmann Institute, Beutenbergstrasse 11, 07745, Jena, Germany;Scuola Normale Superiore, Plazza dei Cavalieri 6, 56100, Pisa, Italy;

关键词: Temporary pool;    Phylogeography;    Population genetics;    Cyprinodontiformes;    Senescence;    Pluvials;    Pleistocene climate changes;    Dispersal;    Founder effect;    Killifish;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2148-13-196

 received in 2013-03-04, accepted in 2013-09-03,  发布年份 2013

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundIntraspecific genetic variation of African fauna has been significantly affected by pronounced climatic fluctuations in Plio-Pleistocene, but, with the exception of large mammals, very limited empirical data on diversity of natural populations are available for savanna-dwelling animals. Nothobranchius furzeri is an annual fish from south-eastern Africa, inhabiting discrete temporary savannah pools outside main river alluvia. Their dispersal is limited and population processes affecting its genetic structure are likely a combination of those affecting terrestrial and aquatic taxa. N. furzeri is a model taxon in ageing research and several populations of known geographical origin are used in laboratory studies. Here, we analysed the genetic structure, diversity, historical demography and temporal patterns of divergence in natural populations of N. furzeri across its entire distribution range.ResultsGenetic structure and historical demography of N. furzeri were analysed using a combination of mitochondrial (partial cytochrome b sequences, 687 bp) and nuclear (13 microsatellites) markers in 693 fish from 36 populations. Genetic markers consistently demonstrated strong population structuring and suggested two main genetic groups associated with river basins. The split was dated to the Pliocene (>2 Mya). The northern group inhabits savannah pools across the basin of the intermittent river Chefu in south-western Mozambique and eastern Zimbabwe. The southern group (from southernmost Mozambique) is subdivided, with the River Limpopo forming a barrier (maximum divergence time 1 Mya). A strong habitat fragmentation (isolated temporary pools) is reflected in significant genetic structuring even between adjacent pools, with a major influence of genetic drift and significant isolation-by-distance. Analysis of historical demography revealed that the expansion of both groups is ongoing, supported by frequent founder effects in marginal parts of the range and evidence of secondary contact between Chefu and Limpopo populations.ConclusionsWe demonstrated: (1) ancient (pre-Pleistocene) divergence between the two main N. furzeri lineages, their recent secondary contact and lack of reproductive isolation; (2) important genetic structuring attributed to the fragmented nature of their environment and isolation-by-distance, suggesting that dispersal is limited, occurs over short distances and is not directly associated with river routes; (3) an apparent role of the River Limpopo as a barrier to dispersal and gene flow.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© Bartáková et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2013. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.