During the Late Pleistocene, narrow-headed voles (Lasiopodomys gregalis) inhabited Eurasia's vast territories, frequently becoming the dominant small mammal species among steppe-tundra communities. We investigated the relationship between this species' European and Asiatic populations by sequencing the mtDNA genomes of two extant specimens from Russia and 10 individuals from five Central European sites, dated to the post-LGM period. Phylogenetic analyses based on a large portion of mtDNA genomes highly supported the positioning of L. gregalis within Arvicolinae. The phylogeny based on mtDNA cytochrome b sequences revealed a deep divergence of European narrow-headed voles from Asiatic ones and their sister position against the extant L. gregalis and L. raddei. The divergence of the European lineage was estimated to a minimum 230 thousand years ago. This suggest, contrary to the current biogeographic hypotheses, that during the interglacial periods narrow-headed vole did not retreat from Europe but survived the unfavourable conditions within the refugial areas. Based on this result, we propose to establish a cryptic species status for the Late Pleistocene European narrow-headed vole and to name this taxon Lasiopodomys anglicus.
- MeSH
- Arvicolinae klasifikace genetika MeSH
- cytochromy b genetika MeSH
- fylogeneze MeSH
- fylogeografie metody MeSH
- genetická variace * MeSH
- lesy MeSH
- mitochondriální DNA genetika MeSH
- sekvence nukleotidů MeSH
- sekvenční analýza DNA MeSH
- tundra MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- zvířata MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
- Geografické názvy
- Rusko MeSH
We have revisited the mtDNA phylogeny of the bank vole Clethrionomys glareolus based on Sanger and next-generation Illumina sequencing of 32 complete mitochondrial genomes. The bank vole is a key study species for understanding the response of European fauna to the climate change following the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and one of the most convincing examples of a woodland mammal surviving in cryptic northern glacial refugia in Europe. The genomes sequenced included multiple representatives of each of the eight bank vole clades previously described based on cytochrome b (cob) sequences. All clades with the exception of the Basque - likely a misidentified pseudogene clade - were highly supported in all phylogenetic analyses and the relationships between the clades were resolved with high confidence. Our data extend the distribution of the Carpathian clade, the marker of a northern glacial refugium in the Carpathian Mountains, to include Britain and Fennoscandia (but not adjacent areas of continental Europe). The Carpathian sub-clade that colonized Britain and Fennoscandia had a somewhat different history from the sub-clade currently found in or close to the Carpathians and may have derived from a more north-westerly refugial area. The two bank vole populations that colonized Britain at the end of the last glaciation are for the first time linked with particular continental clades, the first colonists with the Carpathian clade and the second colonists with the western clade originating in a more southerly refugium in the vicinity of the Alps. We however found no evidence that a functional divergence of proteins encoded in the mitochondrial genome promoted the partial genetic replacement of the first colonists by the second colonists detected previously in southern Britain. We did identify one codon site that changed more often and more radically in the tree than expected and where the observed amino acid change may affect the reductase activity of the cytochrome bc1 complex, but the change was not specific to a particular clade. We also found an excess of radical changes to the primary protein structure for geographically restricted clades from southern Italy and Norway, respectively, possibly related to stronger selective pressure at the latitudinal extremes of the bank vole distribution. However, overall, we find little evidence of pervasive effects of deviation from neutrality on bank vole mtDNA phylogeography.
- MeSH
- Arvicolinae klasifikace genetika MeSH
- Bayesova věta MeSH
- biologická evoluce * MeSH
- cytochromy b genetika MeSH
- fylogeneze * MeSH
- fylogeografie MeSH
- genetická variace MeSH
- genom mitochondriální MeSH
- klimatické změny MeSH
- mitochondriální DNA genetika MeSH
- modely genetické MeSH
- pravděpodobnostní funkce MeSH
- sekvenční analýza DNA MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- zvířata MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
- Geografické názvy
- Evropa MeSH
Over the years, researchers have used presumptively neutral molecular variation to infer the origins of current species' distributions in northern latitudes (especially Europe). However, several reported examples of genic and chromosomal replacements suggest that end-glacial colonizations of particular northern areas may have involved genetic input from different source populations at different times, coupled with competition and selection. We investigate the functional consequences of differences between two bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus) haemoglobins deriving from different glacial refugia, one of which partially replaced the other in Britain during end-glacial climate warming. This allows us to examine their adaptive divergence and hence a possible role of selection in the replacement. We determine the amino acid substitution Ser52Cys in the major expressed β-globin gene as the allelic difference. We use structural modelling to reveal that the protein environment renders the 52Cys thiol a highly reactive functional group and we show its reactivity in vitro. We demonstrate that possessing the reactive thiol in haemoglobin increases the resistance of bank vole erythrocytes to oxidative stress. Our study thus provides striking evidence for physiological differences between products of genic variants that spread at the expense of one another during colonization of an area from different glacial refugia.
- MeSH
- Arvicolinae klasifikace genetika metabolismus MeSH
- fylogeografie MeSH
- genetická variace MeSH
- hemoglobiny chemie genetika metabolismus MeSH
- molekulární sekvence - údaje MeSH
- substituce aminokyselin MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- zvířata MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
- Geografické názvy
- Spojené království MeSH
- MeSH
- Arvicolinae klasifikace parazitologie MeSH
- Cestoda anatomie a histologie klasifikace MeSH
- cestodózy parazitologie veterinární MeSH
- druhová specificita MeSH
- hostitelská specificita MeSH
- nemoci hlodavců parazitologie MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- mužské pohlaví MeSH
- ženské pohlaví MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Publikační typ
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
