Abstract
The common vole (Microtus arvalis) and the field vole (Microtus agrestis) are morphologically similar species but are ecological distinctive and differ in the details of their evolutionary history as revealed by mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). The aim of this study is to describe patterns of genetic variability using microsatellite markers in populations of the common and field vole in Poland using museum specimens, to assess the degree of congruence with mtDNA variation and thereby determine the factors that influence current patterns of gene flow. We genotyped 190 individuals of the common vole at 11 loci and 190 individuals of the field vole at 13 loci. Overall differentiation based on F ST was higher for the common vole than in the field vole. We detected a significant isolation by distance pattern for both species. Bayesian analysis in STRUCTURE identified Eastern and Western geographic groups in Poland based on microsatellites for both species. The location of river barriers is likely to be the main factor in these partitions. The eastern-western subdivision with microsatellites does not coincide with the distribution of mtDNA lineages for either species. Unlike previous studies in the common and field vole elsewhere in Europe, we found no evidence of reproductive isolation between the mtDNA lineages of these species at their contact zones in Poland. This study highlights the different roles of evolutionary history and landscape in shaping contemporary genetic structure in voles in Poland.
Highlights
The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), which lasted from approximately 27.5–19 thousand years before present, forced European species to survive the severe climatic conditions by retreating to refugia located in the south and further north (Dordogne and the Carpathian Basin; Kotlík et al 2006; Sommer and Nadachowski 2006)
Unlike previous studies in the common and field vole elsewhere in Europe, we found no evidence of reproductive isolation between the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) lineages of these species at their contact zones in Poland
In Eastern Europe, postLGM expansion has led to the formation of a phylogeographic ‘suture zone’ in present-day Poland in various mammalian species between multiple mitochondrial DNA lineages originating from different refugia (Wójcik et al 2010; McDevitt et al 2012)
Summary
The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), which lasted from approximately 27.5–19 thousand years before present (ka BP; Clark et al 2009), forced European species to survive the severe climatic conditions by retreating to refugia located in the south (in three peninsulas: Apennine, Balkan and Iberian; Taberlet et al 1998; Hewitt 1999) and further north (Dordogne and the Carpathian Basin; Kotlík et al 2006; Sommer and Nadachowski 2006). For the Northern evolutionary unit in the field vole, six main mtDNA lineages have been identified: Eastern, Scandinavian, Central European, French, North British and Western (Herman and Searle 2011; Herman et al 2014). The phylogeographic suture zone in Poland that was formed after the LGM in the common vole consists of two lineages, the Eastern lineage likely originating from the Carpathian refugium (based on fossil records and molecular data; Pazonyi 2004; Sommer and Nadachowski 2006; Stojak et al 2015) and the Central lineage from a refugium originally suggested to be Italy (Haynes et al 2003) but likely located further north (Heckel et al 2005; based on molecular data). The Carpathians is a possibility, following the suggestion of Jaarola and Searle (2002); a later fossil assessment (Pazonyi 2004) suggested that field voles were not part of the LGM community in the Carpathians
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