Spatial genetic structure across a hybrid zone between European rabbit subspecies

Abstract

View the peer-reviewed version (peerj.com/articles/582), which is the preferred citable publication unless you specifically need to cite this preprint.Alda F, Doadrio I. 2014. Spatial genetic structure across a hybrid zone between European rabbit subspecies. PeerJ 2:e582 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.582 S p a t i a l g e n e t i c s t r u c t u r e a c r o s s a h y b r i d z o n e b e t we e n E u r o p e a n r a b b i t s u b s p e c i e sT h e I b e r i a n P e n i n s u l a i s t h e o n l y r e g i o n i n t h e wo r l d wh e r e t h e t wo e x i s t i n g s u b s p e c i e s o f t h e E u r o p e a n r a b b i t ( Or y c t o l a g u s c u n i c u l u s ) n a t u r a l l y o c c u r a n d h y b r i d i z e . I n t h i s s t u d y we e x p l o r e t h e r e l a t i v e r o l e s o f h i s t o r i c a l a n d c o n t e mp o r a r y p r o c e s s e s i n s h a p i n g t h e s p a t i a l g e n e t i c s t r u c t u r e o f t h e r a b b i t a c r o s s i t s n a t i v e d i s t r i b u t i o n r a n g e , a n d h o w t h e y d i ff e r e n t l y a ff e c t e a c h s u b s p e c i e s a n d t h e h y b r i d z o n e . F o r t h a t p u r p o s e mu l t i l o c u s g e n o t y p e s a n d mi t o c h o n d r i a l DNA d a t a we r e o b t a i n e d f o r 7 7 1 r a b b i t s a c r o s s mo s t o f t h e s p e c i e s ' d i s t r i b u t i o n r a n g e i n S p a i n . Nu c l e a r ma r k e r s d e fi n e d a h i e r a r c h i c a l g e n e t i c s t r u c t u r e fi r s t l y c o mp r i s e d b y t wo g e n e t i c g r o u p s , l a r g e l y c o n g r u e n t wi t h t h e mi t o c h o n d r i a l l i n e a g e s a n d s u b s p e c i e s d i s t r i b u t i o n s ( O. c . a l g i r u s a n d O. c . c u n i c u l u s ) , wh i c h we r e s u b s e q u e n t l y s u b d i v i d e d i n t os e v e n g e n e t i c g r o u p s p r o b a b l y s h a p e d b y e n v i r o n me n t a l o r e c o l o g i c a l f a c t o r s . Ge o g r a p h i c d i s t a n c e a l o n e e me r g e d a s a n i mp o r t a n t f a c t o r e x p l a i n i n g g e n e t i c d i ff e r e n t i a t i o n a c r o s s t h e wh o l e r a n g e , wi t h o u t t h e n e e d t o i n v o k e f o r t h e e ff e c t f o r g e o g r a p h i c a l b a r r i e r s . T h u s , wh e n c o n s i d e r i n g t h e o v e r a l l g e n e t i c s t r u c t u r e , d i ff e r e n c e s a t a l o c a l l e v e l s e e m t o b e o f g r e a t e r i mp o r t a n c e . T h e s i g n i fi c a n t l y p o s i t i v e s p a t i a l c o r r e l a t i o n u p t o a d i s t a n c e o f o n l y 1 0 0 k m s u p p o r t e d t h i s h y p o t h e s i s . Ho we v e r , n o r t h e r n p o p u l a t i o n s o f O. c . c u n i c u l u s s h o we d mo r e s p a t i a l g e n e t i c s t r u c t u r e a n d d i ff e r e n t i a t i o n t h a n O. c . a l g i r u s , wh i c h c o u l d b e d u e t o l o c a l g e o g r a p h i c b a r r i e r s , l i mi t e d r e s o u r c e s , s o i l t y p e a n d / o r s o c i a l b e h a v i o u r s l i mi t i n g d i s p e r s a l .T h e h y b r...

Unravelling the historical biogeography of the European rabbit subspecies in the Iberian Peninsula

“…5). This is compatible with the previously described asymmetric genetic introgression between rabbit subspecies: the introgression of Occ on Oca is greater than vice versa (Branco et al 2000, Carneiro et al 2013, Alda & Doadrio 2014). This asymmetric introgression could be attributed to multiple episodes of isolation and contact tracking the climatic changes throughout the Pleistocene, prior to the current contact between the subspecies (Branco et al 2002, Rafati et al 2018).…”

Genetic and phenotypic characterization of the native rabbits in Middle Egypt

“…Moreover, the genetic drift, gene flow, and the balance between them can also result in population genetic structure [ 4 , 5 ]. Genetic studies using mitochondrial DNA and microsatellite markers reported as essential genetics tools to explain the population structure at different temporal and spatial scales and the genetic flow among individuals within and between populations [ 6 - 9 ].…”