The genetic structure of endangered populations in the Cranberry Fritillary, Boloria aquilonaris (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae): RAPDs vs allozymes

Abstract

The genetic population structure of the Cranberry Fritillary Boloria aquilonaris was studied using both RAPDs (random amplified polymorphic DNA) and allozymes. In Belgium, B. aquilonaris has a naturally fragmented distribution that has been accentuated due to human activity during the last century. The genetic population structure of this butterfly was analysed at the regional (several Ardenne uplands) and at the landscape level (several populations within an Ardenne upland). Both population genetic markers confirmed results from a previous CMR study at the landscape scale. At the regional scale however, important incongruences were

Distinguishing adaptive from nonadaptive genetic differentiation: comparison of QST and FST at two spatial scales

“…However, we did not find a positive relationship between corresponding estimates of withinpopulation variation. In contrast to generally observed similarities in allozyme-and RAPD-generated estimates of within-population variation or higher estimates for RAPDs (reviewed in Vandewoestijne and Baguette, 2002;Nybom, 2004), we found the opposite pattern. Higher regional and population subdivision for RAPDs vs allozymes contrasted with lower within-population variation for RAPDs.…”

“…In other studies where genetic subdivisions at quantitative and molecular markers were compared in their relation to geographic subdivision but without tests of local adaptation/ association with environmental parameters, or were compared without any reference to spatial location/ environmental differences, the outcomes varied from a close match (Lagercrantz and Ryman, 1990;Kuittinen et al, 1997;Morgan et al, 2001) to complete disagreement (Podolsky and Holtsford, 1995;Black-Samuelsson et al, 1997;Heaton et al, 1999;Storz, 2002). When only allozyme and RAPD population differentiation patterns based on genetic distances were compared, the correspondence varied from low (Mamuris et al, 1999;Sun and Wong, 2001;Vandewoestijne and Baguette, 2002) to very high (Peakall et al, 1995;Lifante and Aguinagalde, 1996;Jenczewski et al, 1999). …”

Clonal diversity in the ancient asexual ostracod Darwinula stevensoni assessed by RAPD-PCR

“…As a consequence, because selection acts more strongly on genes encoding proteins, there is a supposedly weaker selective constraint on RAPD. This may explain why RAPD often detects more variation than techniques involving coding genes only (Rossi et al, 1998;Vandewoestijne and Baguette, 2002) and may be partly an explanation for the lower genetic variation reported in previous genetic studies of D. stevensoni (see above).…”

Development of novel microsatellite markers for a specialist species of Lepidoptera, Boloria aquilonaris (Nymphalidae), based on 454 sequences

“…At the landscape scale, both markers confirmed CMR results of high connectivity, and hence low population differentiation. However, incongruences occur at the regional scale, likely due to the very low number of polymorphic allozyme loci and differences in the mutation rate between the two markers (Vandewoestijne & Baguette, 2002). The population structure obtained using the RAPD data set provide a coherent picture of the geographic configuration of the populations within the landscape and the demographic data (Vandewoestijne & Baguette, 2002).…”

“…The ecological requirements have also been studied in detail, providing very specific information on the habitat requirements of this species, and its consequences for population size (Turlure et al, 2010a) and significance for conservation under climate change (Turlure et al, 2010b). Popula-tion genetic studies on this species have increased our understanding of effective connectivity between populations (Vandewoestijne & Baguette, 2002Baguette, , 2004. These studies were based on both allozyme and RAPD (Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA; Williams et al, 1990) markers.…”