Spatial genetics of brown hares (Lepus europaeus Pallas, 1778) from Turkey: different gene pool architecture on either side of the Bosphorus?

Publication date: Available online 17 September 2018Source: Mammalian BiologyAuthor(s): Yasin Demirbaş, İrfan Albayrak, Ayça Özkan Koca, Milomir Stefanović, Felix Knauer, Franz SuchentrunkAbstractWe determined allelic variation at eleven microsatellite loci to study the effect of the Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles on the population genetic architecture of brown hares, Lepus europaeus, from Anatolia and Turkish Thrace in the southeastern most Balkans. The latter region was connected with Anatolia during periods of the late Pleistocene and the early Holocene (until ca. 8000 y BP) enabling natural gene flow. Following a recent mitochondrial (mt) DNA-based phylogeographic model that suggested unidirectional ancient gene flow from Anatolia to the SE Balkans, we expected lower genetic diversity in hares from Turkish Thrace than Anatolia. The Turkish Thrace population might have been established only relatively recently as natural northwestward expansion of a long existing Anatolian population. Alternatively, it might have received late Pleistocene or Holocene gene flow by hares from eastern Europe from north of the Black Sea, even after the formation of the marine barrier. This might have produced a notable genetic distinction between the hares from either side of the Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles. We found significantly lower allelic richness in hares from Turkish Thrace than Anatolia, very little genetic admixture in the Turkish Thrac...
Source: Mammalian Biology - Category: Biology Source Type: research