A comparison of genetic variation at major histocompatibility complex and microsatellite loci in the wild populations of freshwater cyprinid Leuciscus cephalus across geographical scale
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| Year of publication | 2009 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
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| Description | The genetic diversity in the wild populations is the result of neutral evolutionary processes and natural selection. Therefore, investigating genetic variation at multiple types of molecular markers (neutral and selective) represents convenient approach that provides to separate the effect of selection from genetic drift or migration. In this study, we compared data from two molecular markers, namely microsatellites as a neutral marker that are affected above all by genome wild evolutionary processes, and major histocompatibility complex (MHC) gene as a selective marker that represent one of the best candidates to study natural selection in wild populations. Genetic variability at exon 2 of DAB genes belonging to MHC class IIB genes and twelve polymorphic microsatellite loci was analyzed within and between fifteen populations of freshwater cyprinid fish Leuciscus cephlalus in Europe (including Czech Republic, France, Italy, Bulgaria, Finland, Spain, and Poland). The effect of geographical distance between populations on the genetic variation was also examined. The results indicated that MHC variation was affected by balancing selection rather than random genetic drift and emphasized the role of geographic distance (or isolation by distance) on the degree and sorting of genetic variation. |
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