The narrow-headed vole complex includes two cryptic species, Lasiopodomys raddei and L. gregalis, and three allopatrically-distributed lineages with obscure taxonomic ranks within the latter. Based on the RNA-seq data of 12 specimens, the current study aims to find the molecular mechanisms of intraspecies differentiation and, in particular, reproductive isolation between analyzed groups. According to the results of the GO-enrichment analysis, about a hundred biological processes associated with genes with contrasting SNPs for L. gregalis and L. raddei were identified. Among them, processes of interspecific interactions, defense responses, responses to external stimuli, and the perception of chemical stimuli and smell were identified, indicating the likely existence of pre-copulatory behavioral and physiological mechanisms that contribute to reproductive isolation between cryptic species. An evaluation of the ratio of non-synonymous substitutions to synonymous ones showed evidence of selection in L. raddei compared to L. gregalis for a large part of the analyzed genes. Among the analyzed genes, genes with both weakening and intensifying selection were found.
The subgenus Stenocranius includes two cryptic species, Lasiopodomys raddei and L. gregalis; the latter has three allopatric and genetically well-isolated lineages having unclear taxonomic rank. To determine possible karyotypic differences, 121 individuals from 37 localities (among them, 15 are previously unpublished sampling sites) were analysed. Besides differences in some chromosome traits, higher intra-specific karyotypic variation within L. gregalis is mostly due to various numbers of small heterochromatic acrocentric B chromosomes (Bs) whose number does not vary intra-individually. The Early Pleistocene relic L. raddei carries stable initial karyotype 2n = 36 without Bs, while among the L. gregalis lineages, the number of Bs varies from one to five: increasing from older lineage A to evolutionarily younger lineages B and C. In both cryptic species, the distribution pattern of ribosomal DNA varies in A chromosome sets and on Bs, whereas telomeric sequences are located only at the ends of all chromosomes, including Bs. Immunodetection of several meiotic proteins indicates that meio-Bs are transcriptionally inactive and have a pattern of meiotic behaviour similar to that of sex chromosomes. Further research is needed to clarify the nature, mechanisms of inheritance and stability of supernumerary chromosomes in narrow-headed voles.
Резюме В статье приводятся результаты проверки искусственных гнездовий для привлечения на размножение хищных птиц в Южной Туве. В степной части Южной Тувы в охранной зоне заповедника «Убсунурская котловина» в 2009 и 2011 гг. было установлено 49 гнездовых платформ на бетонных опорах. В 2013 г. проверено 35 платформ. Из них успешно заселены 11 (31,4 %), а на 4 (11,0 %) платформах отмечены нежилые гнёзда без следов заселения в текущем году. Единственным видом, заселившим искусственные гнездовья, оказался мохноногий курганник (Buteo hemilasius).
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