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The influence of demography, population structure and selection on molecular diversity in the selfing freshwater snail Biomphalaria pfeifferi

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 June 2003

BERNARD ANGERS
Affiliation:
Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Montpellier, France Present address: Département des Sciences Biologiques, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada.
NATHALIE CHARBONNEL
Affiliation:
Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Montpellier, France
NICOLAS GALTIER
Affiliation:
Genomes, Populations, Interactions, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique – Université Montpellier II, Montpellier, France
PHILIPPE JARNE
Affiliation:
Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Montpellier, France
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Abstract

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Several forces may affect the distribution of genetic diversity in natural populations when compared to what is expected in a random-mating, constant size population of neutral genes. One solution for unravelling their respective influence is to study several genes at once in order to better reflect the true genealogy. Here we reconstruct the evolutionary history of the freshwater snail Biomphalaria pfeifferi over its entire distribution, using eight African populations, and three congeneric species as outgroups. A phylogenetic analysis was conducted using amplified fragment length polymorphism markers, and sequences at eight nuclear non-coding loci and one mitochondrial gene were used to analyse population structure. The geographic distribution of variation suggests greater affinities within than among regions. The pattern of variability at both the nuclear and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) loci is consistent with a bottleneck, although population structure may also partly explain our results. Our results are also indicative of the role of selection, whether positive or purifying, in the mtDNA. This highlights the fact that the interfering influences of population structure, demography and selection on molecular variation are not easily distinguished.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2003 Cambridge University Press