Ecological Genetics of the Wild Rabbit in Australia. III. Comparison of the Microgeographical Distribution of Alleles in Two Different Environments

Abstract

The differences in distribution of gene frequencies at three polymorphic loci (adenosine deaminase, carboxylesterase-1 and phosphogluconate dehydrogenase) were determined for rabbit populations living in two markedly different environments. One, a highland population from Snowy Plains N.S.W., has low productivity and high survival rates, and the second, a dry plains population from Urana, N.S.W., has high productivity and low survival rates. The amount of sub population differentiation at each locus was distinctive, and was different in the two environments with significant differentiation occurring for phosphogluconate dehydrogenase at both areas, for carboxylesterase-1 at Snowy Plains and for adenosine deaminase at Urana. The general significance of these results was demonstrated by determining the distribution of the variation in a third population. This population was subject to the same historical climatic events as the Urana population and showed a similar pattern of variation. Various explanations of the data are considered and a combination of chance and selection, rather than either alone, seems to offer the most satisfactory explanation. The demographic differences between the populations seemed to play no part in explaining the patterns observed.

Limited genetic differentiation among wild Oryctolagus cuniculus L. (rabbit) populations in arid eastern Australia

“…The high rate of gene flow observed in this study is contrary to previous investigations in southern Australia that have indicated the minimum distance necessary for significant differentiation to develop among rabbit populations to be 20-30 km based on morphological (skull) divergence (Taylor et a!., 1977) and 1 km based on biochemical (allozyme) divergence (Richardson, 1980). At distances comparable to those used in this study, Richardson et a!.…”

“…Daly (1979) showed that although the social organization of rabbit populations in areas of New South Wales was hierarchical, it did not result in significant genetic microdifferentiation as paternity was shared and infidelities occurred between social groups. Nonetheless, Richardson (1980) found significant heterogeneity in allele frequencies among warren groups in New South Wales over distances as little as 1 km suggesting that in certain regions of 138 Australia control may be effective when applied on a relatively small scale.…”

“…In rabbits, up to five polymorphic enzyme systems have been used to detect variation in the underlying genes (Daly, 1979;Richardson, 1980;Richardson et al, 1980Richardson et al, , 1986Webb, 1988). Mitochondrial (mt) DNA has been recognized as a sensitive indicator of population subdivision (Wilson et a!., 1985).…”

Blood Biochemical Polymorphisms in Rabbits Presently Bred in Spain: Genetic Variation and Distances amongst Populations

“…The electrophoretically detected blood proteins have been widely studied in many livestock species (see Manwell and Baker 1970). However, this line of research is still at its early stages in rabbits (Grunder et al 1965;Johnson 1968;Coggan et al 1974;Richardson 1980;Juneja et al 1981;Zaragoza 1984). Given the great diversity existing within this species and its increasing value in the livestock industry of 0004-9417/87/030275$02.00 many countries, a genetic characterization of breeds, lines and populations can now be carried out smoothly, with the help of the information and mathematical methodology available at present (Cavalli-Sforza and Edwards 1967;Kidd and Sgaramella-Zonta 1971).…”

Blood biochemical polymorphisms as markers for genetic characteristics of wild Spanish and domestic rabbits

“…The study of genetic distances between wild rabbit populations has been based on a single (Coggan et al, 1974) or four biochemical polymorphisms (Richardson, 1980;Richardson etal., 1980). Spanish wild rabbits have contributed to the origins of other rabbit breeds, not only in Spain (Spanish Giant and Spanish Common breeds) but also in other countries, where they have either been established by natural migration or deliberately introduced.…”