Abstract
The Hokkaido salamander (Hynobius retardatus) is endemic to Hokkaido Island, Japan, and shows intriguing flexible phenotypic plasticity and regional morphological diversity. However, to date, allozymes and partial mitochondria DNA sequences have provided only an outline of its demographic histories and the pattern of its genetic diversification. To understand the finer details of the population structure of this species and its evolution since speciation, we genotyped five regional populations by using 12 recently developed microsatellite polymorphic markers. We found a clear population structure with low gene flow among the five populations, but a close genetic relationship between the Teshio and Kitami populations. Our demographic analysis suggested that Teshio and Erimo had the largest effective population sizes among the five populations. These findings regarding the population structure and demography of H. retardatus improve our understanding of the faunal phylogeography on Hokkaido Island and also provide fundamental genetic information that will be useful for future studies.
Highlights
One of the major goals of molecular ecology is to understand the current genetic structure and pattern of genetic diversity of organisms
Salamanders have been used as model species for studies of genetic structure and diversity [1] because gene flow among populations is restricted by their low dispersal ability [2]
Extensive investigations of the phylogenetic relationship among species of this family using mitochondrial DNA [3,4,5] and nuclear genes [6] have shown with high confidence that
Summary
One of the major goals of molecular ecology is to understand the current genetic structure and pattern of genetic diversity of organisms. These data are useful for conservation management, because genetic diversity is an essential factor in morphological and behavioral phenotypic variation. Salamanders have been used as model species for studies of genetic structure and diversity [1] because gene flow among populations is restricted by their low dispersal ability [2]. The salamander family Hynobiidae comprises over 50 species distributed entirely within Asia. Extensive investigations of the phylogenetic relationship among species of this family using mitochondrial DNA [3,4,5] and nuclear genes [6] have shown with high confidence that.
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