Abstract
Simple SummaryIt is vitally important to unravel the evolutionary processes and potential drivers of genetic differentiation among populations in evolutionary biology. However, it remains unexplored how those drivers act on the genetic divergence among bat populations. In this study, we studied the genetic structure and evolutionary history of a bat species, Hipposideros larvatus from mainland China and Hainan Island. Using microsatellites and mtDNA to analyze genetic differentiation, we found an obvious genetic structure between the mainland and the island in H. larvatus. Integrating the genetic data, geography and climatic factors, we uncovered the combined effects including geography, environment and colonization history, on the genetic variation in H. larvatus. Our results are valuable in understanding the complex evolutionary processes among bat populations and provide implications for the conservation of island bat populations.Determining the evolutionary history and population drivers, such as past large-scale climatic oscillations, stochastic processes and ecological adaptations, represents one of the aims of evolutionary biology. Hipposideros larvatus is a common bat species in Southern China, including Hainan Island. We examined genetic variation in H. larvatus using mitochondrial DNA and nuclear microsatellites. We found a population structure on both markers with a geographic pattern that corresponds well with the structure on mainland China and Hainan Island. To understand the contributions of geography, the environment and colonization history to the observed population structure, we tested isolation by distance (IBD), isolation by adaptation (IBA) and isolation by colonization (IBC) using serial Mantel tests and RDA analysis. The results showed significant impacts of IBD, IBA and IBC on neutral genetic variation, suggesting that genetic variation in H. larvatus is greatly affected by neutral processes, environmental adaptation and colonization history. This study enriches our understanding of the complex evolutionary forces that shape the distribution of genetic variation in bats.
Highlights
Uncovering the evolutionary processes that drive genetic differentiation among populations is a central goal of evolutionary biology [1,2]
For 165 individuals in H. larvatus sampled from 18 localities across the entire Chinese range of the species, we examined genetic variation in cytb (1140 bp) and the control region (473 bp)
Incorporation of microsatellites, mtDNA, geography and climate data in Mantel tests and redundancy analysis (RDA) analyses offered a better understanding of the complex interactions of isolation by distance (IBD), isolation by adaptation (IBA) and isolation by colonization (IBC), as well as their impacts on population genetic structure
Summary
Uncovering the evolutionary processes that drive genetic differentiation among populations is a central goal of evolutionary biology [1,2]. Neutral processes like random genetic drift can drive the genetic divergence of populations. In this scenario, genetic differentiation at neutral markers is typically driven by isolation by distance (IBD), which is an increase in genetic differentiation associated with geographic distance between populations [3,4]. Genetic differentiation at neutral markers is typically driven by isolation by distance (IBD), which is an increase in genetic differentiation associated with geographic distance between populations [3,4] This suggests that neutral and stochastic processes can drive genetic differentiation among populations. Selective or adaptive processes can drive genetic divergence among populations. Selection can be involved in driving differentiation at neutral DNA markers [5,6]. Several studies distinguished IBA from IBD using neutral genetic markers [8,9,10]
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