Genetic diversity of the pulmonate mollusk Arianta arbustorum L. in Leningrad region

Abstract

The variation of a fragment of the gene for cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI) of the land snail Arianta arbustorum L. collected in the Leningrad oblast is studied. The population under study demonstrates very poor diversity at both the haplotype and nucleotide levels. The performed tests suggest the bridgehead scenario of the land snail invasion, which implies that a small group of founders colonize a certain region and only later give rise to an expansion and rapid dispersal of the population.