On the phylogeographic origin of the Corsican red deer (Cervus elaphus corsicanus): evidence from microsatellites and mitochondrial DNA

Zachos, Frank E.; Hartl, Günther B.; Apollonio, Marco; Reutershan, Tanja

doi:10.1078/1616-5047-00097

Cited by 53 publications

(89 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…All three analyses conducted imply that the RUM A haplotype is very closely related to Tyrrhenian red deer, and also clusters with North African sequences. A recent phylogeographic study of red deer using the mtDNA cytochrome b region, suggested that North African red deer colonised the Tyrrhenian islands and represent a taxonomic unit -an 'African' subspeciesdiscrete from mainland European populations (Ludt et al, 2004; although see Zachos et al, 2003). The phylogeny presented here (Figure 2) provides further support for Ludt et al's (2004) suggestion of separate 'African' and 'Western European' taxonomic groups, utilising both a previously unanalysed combination of mt CR sequences (Table 1), and a different mtDNA region.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic consequences of human management in an introduced island population of red deer (Cervus elaphus)

et al. 2006

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We investigated phylogeography and spatial genetic structure in an introduced island population of red deer (Cervus elaphus) on the Isle of Rum, Scotland, experiencing spatial variation in management regime. Five different mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplotypes were present among female red deer on Rum. These comprised two phylogenetically divergent groups, one of which clustered with red deer from Sardinia and North Africa, while the other four grouped with other Western European red deer. Recent and historical red deer management practices explain this result. The Rum population is descended from recent introductions from at least four different UK mainland populations, and translocation of red deer within the UK and across Europe is well documented. We found significant spatial genetic structure across Rum in both mtDNA haplotypes and microsatellite markers. Mitochondrial spatial structure was over an order of magnitude greater than structure in nuclear markers. This extreme difference is explained by the fact that the Rum population was introduced from different source populations, the highly male-biased dispersal patterns of red deer and the much smaller effective population size of mitochondrial compared to nuclear markers. Spatial structure in mtDNA conformed to a pattern of isolation by distance, while nuclear DNA did not. Apparent structure in the nuclear markers was driven by differences between the North Block and the rest of the island. We suggest that recent differences in the management regimes in different parts of the island have led to differences in effective male migration that would account for this observation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic consequences of human management in an introduced island population of red deer (Cervus elaphus)

et al. 2006

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“…DNA was extracted with the Qiagen DNeasy Tissue Kit. Mitochondrial control region (=d-loop) amplification and sequencing were performed as described in Zachos et al (2003). Sequences were aligned with the BioEdit software (Hall 1999).…”

Section: Molecular and Statistical Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic analysis of an isolated red deer (Cervus elaphus) population showing signs of inbreeding depression

et al. 2006

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In the present study, we analysed 18 red deer specimens from a small (N=50) and isolated population in Schleswig-Holstein, northern Germany, with respect to variability at nine polymorphic microsatellite loci and 439 bp of the mitochondrial DNA control region. Several cases of brachygnathy (shortened lower jaw), commonly associated with inbreeding depression, have been recorded in the population. Genetic variability was very low compared with other European red deer populations including the neighbouring population from which the population under study was derived some 130 years ago. The effective population size was estimated to be seven individuals corresponding to an increase in inbreeding (or a loss of heterozygosity) of 7% each generation. This value is seven times higher than the theoretical threshold level up to which natural selection is believed to counteract the fixation of deleterious alleles in the gene pool. As a consequence, the population urgently needs genetic input from other populations to overcome the negative effects of random drift and inbreeding. To our knowledge, this study is one of the first to genetically analyse a red deer population showing strong signs of inbreeding depression.

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“…The first assessment of genetic variability based on five microsatellite loci and 332 bp of the mitochondrial control region yielded very low variability values for 17 Sardinian red deer in a European comparison (Zachos et al 2003). A more recent study, based on a larger sample size of 29 Sardinian red deer and an extended panel of 12 microsatellite loci as well as a larger fraction of the mitochondrial control region (531 bp) confirmed these results (Hmwe et al 2006a, see values in Table 1).…”

Section: Tyrrhenian or Corsican Red Deermentioning

confidence: 60%

“…The only other genetically substantiated hypothesis as to the origin of the Tyrrhenian red deer is based on nuclear microsatellite loci. Zachos et al (2003) and Hmwe et al (2006a) found close relationships between Sardinian and European mainland red deer, in particular those from the Mesola wood in the Po delta (the relationship of mitochondrial control region sequences derived from Sardinian and Mesola red deer was ambiguous). The Mesola population is important from a phylogeographic point of view as it is the only surviving, truly autochthonous red deer population in the Italian peninsula, thus very probably at least partially representing the original Italian gene pool (Mattioli 1990).…”

Section: Phylogeography Of the Corsican Red Deermentioning

confidence: 92%

Conservation Genetics and Phylogeography of the Threatened Corsican and Barbary Red Deer (Cervus elaphus corsicanus and C. e. barbarus)

Zachos

Hajji²,

Hmwe

2009

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The two red deer subspecies C. e. corsicanus (Corsican red deer, endemic to the Tyrrhenian islands of Sardinia and Corsica) and C. e. barbarus (Barbary red deer, presently confined to a small area along the Tunisian-Algerian border) are classified by the IUCN as "Endangered" and "Lower risk (near threatened)", respectively (until recently, the Barbary red deer's status was "Vulnerable"). Both subspecies underwent severe bottlenecks in the twentieth century. We review our results on genetic variability and differentiation in these two subspecies at polymorphic microsatellite loci and sequences of the mitochondrial control region and discuss their bearing on conservation and phylogeography. Our analyses yielded very low genetic variability for C. e. corsicanus. The Barbary red deer also showed low variability values in a European comparison, but diversity was not as low as might have been feared in the light of the population's history. Analyses of molecular variance, assignment tests and factorial correspondence analysis did not yield any signs of differentiation among the Tunisian subgroups studied, whereas there was clear evidence of a differentiation between the Sardinian and the Corsican red deer population. The phylogeographic analysis showed close relationships between C. e. corsicanus and autochthonous Italian deer at two unlinked sets of nuclear loci, suggesting as the most likely scenario an introduction of Italian mainland red deer to the Tyrrhenian islands, from where animals were probably translocated to North-Africa.

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On the phylogeographic origin of the Corsican red deer (Cervus elaphus corsicanus): evidence from microsatellites and mitochondrial DNA

Cited by 53 publications

References 27 publications

Genetic consequences of human management in an introduced island population of red deer (Cervus elaphus)

Genetic consequences of human management in an introduced island population of red deer (Cervus elaphus)

Genetic analysis of an isolated red deer (Cervus elaphus) population showing signs of inbreeding depression

Conservation Genetics and Phylogeography of the Threatened Corsican and Barbary Red Deer (Cervus elaphus corsicanus and C. e. barbarus)

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