Genes located on a SSC17 meat quality QTL region are associated with growth in outbred pig populations

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of markers developed in eight genes, located in a previously detected meat quality QTL region on SSC17, on growth, fat and meat quality traits collected in commercial pig populations of different genetic backgrounds. The genes had been previously mapped to SSC17 as part of a fine-mapping effort. Association analyses were conducted between each marker and the available phenotypic traits. Results showed that three genes ( CTSZ , CSTF1 and C20orf43 ) were significantly associated with the growth traits. In addition, CTSZ also impacted on meat colour, with the less favourable genotype for growth being associated with darker meat. The differences observed between genotypes were substantial and may be of economic importance to pig producers. These markers may be useful for selecting for faster growth or improved meat quality.     

Genetic analysis of populations of threatened snake species using RAPD markers

Snakes are a particularly threatened vertebrate taxon, with distributions of many species and populations becoming increasingly fragmented. At present, little is known about the degree of genetic differentiation that exists between isolated populations even though such information may be critical to their survival and conservation. As an example of how recently developed RAPD genetic markers can be used in conservation genetics, we present preliminary results from a study which used these DNA-based markers to assess population divergence in two threatened Canadian snakes, the black rat snake ( Elaphe o. obsoleta ) and the eastern massasauga rattlesnake ( Sistrurus c. catenatus ). We present information on the levels of variation and reliability of amplification for fragments generated from five primers. We then use a recently developed analytical technique to estimate levels of nucleotide diversity within populations and sequence divergence between populations. Our results show that intrapopulation levels of divergence as estimated by the methods of Clark & Lanigan ( Molecular Biology and Evolution 1993, 10 , 1096–1111) approximate those found for mtDNA in vertebrates and that diversity between snake populations is small and non-significant when tested using randomization procedures. Thus, our study provides an example of how RAPDs can be applied to conservation genetic studies of vertebrates and suggest that the snake populations we examined have only recently become isolated and maybe considered genetically equivalent from a conservation perspective, although this conclusion needs to be confirmed with other DNA-based markers.     

Genetic diversity and differentiation of guanaco populations from Argentina inferred from microsatellite data

Genotype data from 14 microsatellite markers were used to assess the genetic diversity and differentiation of four guanaco populations from Argentine Patagonia. These animals were recently captured in the wild and maintained in semi-captivity for fibre production. Considerable genetic diversity in these populations was suggested by the finding of a total of 162 alleles, an average mean number of alleles per locus ranging from 6.50 to 8.19, and H(e) values ranging from 0.66 to 0.74. Assessment of population differentiation showed moderate but significant values of F(ST)=0.071 (P=0.000) and R(ST)=0.083 (P=0.000). An amova test showed that the genetic variation among populations was 5.6% while within populations it was 94.4%. A number of 6.6 migrants per generation may support these results. Unambiguous individual assignment to original populations was obtained for the Pilcaniyeu, Las Heras and La Esperanza populations. The erroneous assignment of 18.75% Rio Mayo individuals to the Las Heras population can be explained by the low genetic differentiation found between these two populations. Thirty-nine of 56 loci per population combinations were in Hardy--Weinberg disequilibrium because of guanaco heterozygote deficiency, which may be explained by population subdivision. The high level of genetic diversity of the guanacos analysed here indicates that the Patagonian guanaco constitutes an important genetic resource for conservation or economic utilization programmes.     

内蒙古中东部草原区克氏针茅种群遗传分化的RAPD研究

采用 RAPD-PCR技术对内蒙古中东部草原分布的 7个克氏针茅 (Stip a krylovii Roshev.)种群进行了分析。从 10 0个 10碱基随机引物中筛选出 2 1个有效引物 ,共扩增出 2 2 9条稳定的 DNA带 ,其中 171条带具有多态性 ,多态性百分比 (PPB)为74.67%。将每个扩增产物看作一个独立的性状 ,按其有无列出二元数据矩阵 ,计算 Jaccard、简单匹配系数 (SM)和 Dice遗传相似性系数 ,通过 UPGMA法构建分子标记聚类图 ;并通过主成分分析 (PCA)和主轴法分析 (PAF) ,将 7个种群分类 ;统计各个种群特异性 DNA带 ,计算占总扩增条带的百分数。结果表明 :(1)不同地理种群之间扩增结果差异明显 ,具有丰富的遗传多样性 ;(2 )不同地理种群间存在一定程度的分化 ,这种分化是与种群之间的实际距离相联系的 ,相距越远 ,种群相似程度越低 ,进一步分析表明种群的分化是与所处生境逐渐旱化相一致的 ;(3 )聚类图上将 7个种群分为 3类 ,PCA和 PAF分析通过 3个成分或因子也将 7个种群分为 3类 ,支持了聚类图的分类结果 ;(4)特异性位点所占百分比与种群所处生境也有一定的联系 ,它与环境干燥度的相关系数为 0 .76(P<0 .0 5)。     

内蒙古中东部不同草原地带羊草种群遗传分化

运用 RAPD技术对内蒙古不同草原地带分布的 5个羊草种群 (共 10 0个个体 )的遗传多样性进行分析。 31个随机引物(10 nt)在 5个羊草种群中共检测到 4 96个扩增片断 ,其中多态性片断 4 89个 ,总的多态位点百分率达 98.6 %。利用 Nei指数和Shannon指数估算了 5个种群的遗传多样性 ,并计算种群相似系数和遗传距离运用 UPGMA法进行聚类分析。结果表明 :无论是种群内还是种群间 ,羊草均存在较高的遗传变异 ,大部分的遗传变异存在于种群内 (Nei指数和 Shannon指数估算结果分别为 85 .4 %和 72 .5 % ) ,只有少部分的遗传变异存在于种群间 ;不同种群的遗传多样性存在差异 ,各种群的遗传多样性与其所处的地理位置具有显著的相关性 ;5个种群的平均遗传距离为 0 .5 0 95 ,变异范围为 0 .4 6 84～ 0 .5 4 76 ;聚类分析结果显示地理距离较近的种群遗传距离较小 ,首先聚在一起 ,而地理距离较远的种群遗传距离较大 ,说明羊草种群间的遗传分化与地理距离存在一定相关性 ;但地理距离最近的两个种群并未最先聚集 ,说明羊草种群间的分化还与其生境的异质性有关     

Temporal variation in genetic diversity and effective population size of Mediterranean and subalpine Arabidopsis thaliana populations

Currently, there exists a limited knowledge on the extent of temporal variation in population genetic parameters of natural populations. Here, we study the extent of temporal variation in population genetics by genotyping 151 genome-wide SNP markers polymorphic in 466 individuals collected from nine populations of the annual plant Arabidopsis thaliana during 4 years. Populations are located along an altitudinal climatic gradient from Mediterranean to subalpine environments in NE Spain, which has been shown to influence key demographic attributes and life cycle adaptations. Genetically, A. thaliana populations were more variable across space than over time. Common multilocus genotypes were detected several years in the same population, whereas low-frequency multilocus genotypes appeared only 1 year. High-elevation populations were genetically poorer and more variable over time than low-elevation populations, which might be caused by a higher overall demographic instability at higher altitudes. Estimated effective population sizes were low but also showed a significant decreasing trend with increasing altitude, suggesting a deeper impact of genetic drift at high-elevation populations. In comparison with single-year samplings, repeated genotyping over time captured substantially higher amount of genetic variation contained in A. thaliana populations. Furthermore, repeated genotyping of populations provided novel information on the genetic properties of A. thaliana populations and allowed hypothesizing on their underlying mechanisms. Therefore, including temporal genotyping programmes into traditional population genetic studies can significantly increase our understanding of the dynamics of natural populations.     

Genetic divergence among geographical populations of the migratory locust in China

The random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique was used to examine genetic divergence and interrelations of 11 geographical populations of the migratory locust in China, and the role of spatial separation in the population differentiations. AMOVA analysis of genetic variations in all the populations indicated greater within- (79.55%) than among-population variability (20.45%), and that there were significant differentiations among the populations; 11 populations were divided into four regional groups, with significantly greater variability within (82.99%) than among the groups (17.01%), and there existed apparent regional differentiations. Paired comparisons showed significantly greater variability within-than between-groups, indicating significant differentiations between populations of different regional groups. Of all the pairwise comparisons, Hainan and Tibetan groups displayed the greatest differentiation, with the difference between the two groups being seven folds of that between populations within the groups; the least differentiations were exhibited between the groups of Hainan, Xinjiang, and Inner Mongolia, with the differences between groups being only half of the differences between populations within the groups. Mantel tests of the genetic and spatial distances showed that the two matrices were significantly correlated (p<0.01), indicating that the geographical isolation played an important role in the differentiations of the geographical populations of the migratory locusts. Cluster analysis divided all populations into four major groups: Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia group, the Great Plains of North China (the Yellow River and Huai River Plains) group, Hainan group, and Tibet group. Principal component analysis (PCA) supported the division of populations based on the cluster analysis. However, analysis of individuals clustered the locusts into five populations: Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia, Hami in Xinjiang, the Great Plains of North China, Hainan, and Tibet. The locust populations in eastern China displayed apparently continous and gradient variations; as such authors consider that there were no necessity and valid reasons for further division of subspecies. The subspecific status for the main geographical populations of the migratory locusts in China was discussed.     

Microsatellite variation in autochthonous and introduced populations of the Alpine marmot (Marmota marmota) along a European west–east transect

Microsatellite variation was studied in 11 populations of the Alpine marmot along a west–east transect through the present distribution range. The samples represent five autochthonous and six introduced populations. Eleven loci were analysed in nine populations and six loci in the two populations from France. In the populations from the Western Alps, there is no indication for reduced variability as has been assumed in previous studies. However, a decrease of variation in the autochthonous populations was observed from the west to the east. The introduced populations showed a heterogeneous pattern reflecting the geographic origin of the released individuals. The population from the Spanish Pyrenees harbours a high level of variation and is genetically closest to the French populations. In Austria, three of the introduced populations have low variation and are closely related to the autochthonous populations from the western part of Austria. In contrast, two introduced populations from the central part of Austria are highly variable and resemble the populations from France. At least for one of these populations an early introduction of founder individuals from the Western Alps has been documented.     

Genetic differentiation in red‐bellied piranha populations (Pygocentrus nattereri,Kner, 1858) from the Solimões‐Amazonas River

Red‐bellied piranhas (Pygocentrus nattereri) are widely caught with different intensities throughout the region of Solimões‐Amazonas River by local fishermen. Thus, the management of this resource is performed in the absence of any information on its genetic stock. P. nattereri is a voracious predator and widely distributed in the Neotropical region, and it is found in other regions of American continent. However, information about genetic variability and structure of wild populations of red‐bellied piranha is unavailable. Here, we describe the levels of genetic diversity and genetic structure of red‐bellied piranha populations collected at different locations of Solimões‐Amazonas River system. We collected 234 red‐bellied piranhas and analyzed throughout eight microsatellite markers. We identified high genetic diversity within populations, although the populations of lakes ANA, ARA, and MAR have shown some decrease in their genetic variability, indicating overfishing at these communities. Was identified the existence of two biological populations when the analysis was taken altogether at the lakes of Solimões‐Amazonas River system, with significant genetic differentiation between them. The red‐bellied piranha populations presented limited gene flow between two groups of populations, which were explained by geographical distance between these lakes. However, high level of gene flow was observed between the lakes within of the biological populations. We have identified high divergence between the Catalão subpopulation and all other subpopulations. We suggest the creation of sustainable reserve for lakes near the city of Manaus to better manage and protect this species, whose populations suffer from both extractive and sport fishing.     

Genetic divergence among geographical populations of the migratory locust in China

The migratory locust, Locusta migratoria L., which is distributed widely in the East Hemisphere, has long been regarded as the most important agricultural pest and a model insect. Its distribution ranges from thetropic and the subtropical zone, to the temperate zone, and to the cold-temperate zone. Because of the wide geographical distribution and adaptations, many geo- graphical populations of the migratory locust dis- played apparent variation in morphology, life history, physiology, and ot…     

内蒙古典型草原羊草种群遗传分化的RAPD分析

运用 RAPD技术对内蒙古典型草原不同生境 8个羊草种群进行分析。采用 2 4个随机引物 (10 nt)在 8个种群中共检测到2 2 4个扩增片断 ,其中多态性片断 173个 ,总的多态位点百分率达 77.2 % ,特异性片断 2 2个 ,占 9.82 % ,平均每个引物扩增的DNA带数为 9.3 3条。利用 Nei指数和 Shannon指数估算了 8个种群的遗传多样性 ,并计算种群相似系数和遗传距离 ,运用UPGMA法进行聚类分析。结果表明 :羊草大部分的遗传变异存在于种群内 ,只有少部分的遗传变异存在于种群间 ,Nei指数和Shannon指数计算结果分别为 85.4%和 66.8% ;羊草不同种群的遗传多样性存在差异 ;8个羊草种群平均遗传距离为 0 .2 3 16,变异范围为 0 .1587～ 0 .2 70 0 ,说明 8个羊草种群间的遗传变异不大 ,即 :在较小地理范围内羊草的遗传分化程度较小 ;8个种群可聚为 3个类群 ,聚类结果显示生境相似的种群能够聚在一起 ,而地理距离最近的种群不一定归为一类 ,说明小范围内羊草种群间的遗传分化与地理距离不存在相关性 ,而与其生境间的相似度相关。影响遗传相似性的不是单一因子而是各种因子的综合作用 ,较小地理范围内羊草种群间的遗传分化主要是由环境的异质性所引起的     

拷贝数变异的全基因组关联分析

基因组拷贝数变异(copy number variations,CNVs)是指与基因组参考序列相比,基因组中≥1 kb的DNA片段插入、缺失和/或扩增,及其互相组合衍生出的复杂变异．由于其具有分布范围广、可遗传、相对稳定和高度异质性等特点,目前认为,CNVs是一种新的可以作为疾病易感标志的基因组DNA多态性,其变异引起的基因剂量改变可以导致表型改变．最近,一种基于CNVs的新的疾病易感基因鉴定策略——CNV全基因组关联分析开始出现,这一策略和传统的基于单核苷酸多态性的关联分析具有互补性,通过认识基因组结构变异可以认识复杂疾病的分子机制和遗传基础．     

Genetic structure of three populations of rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta): Implications for genetic management

One of the prime concerns at zoos and at primate breeding facilities is to maintain genetic variability. This can be accomplished by avoiding inbreeding. It is relatively easy to assess genetic variability and the level of inbreeding by using pedigree information and genetic markers. In this study we used genetic markers controlled by 6 independent polymorphic loci (GPI, PGD, CA2, MPI, DIA1, Tf) to ascertain genetic variation in two captive and one wild population of rhesus monkeys. Two other loci ADA and NP were also examined and found to be monomorphic in the three populations. F-statistics and contingency chi-square analyses indicated that there was significant genetic differentiation among the populations. We also found that the mean heterozygosities were very similar in the three populations, in spite of the diverse breeding strategies. These data are important because rhesus monkeys are frequently used for biomedical research; and the genetic markers provide useful information for genetic management of captive colonies of nonhuman primates. © 1992 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

不同地理种群美洲斑潜蝇及近缘种的rDNA-ITS1序列分析和比较

【目的】通过对美洲斑潜蝇Liriomyza sativae Blanchard 不同地理种群及近缘种间的核糖体DNA第一内转录间隔区（rDNA-ITS1）进行比较,分析美洲斑潜蝇不同地理种群间的遗传分化情况,并为美洲斑潜蝇与近缘种间提供分子鉴别标记。【方法】用PCR产物直接测序法及克隆测序法对我国美洲斑潜蝇8个地理种群的rDNA-ITS1序列进行测序,并调用GenBank中3个近缘种的rDNA-ITS序列,运用软件MEGA3.1对美洲斑潜蝇不同地理种群及近缘种间的rDNA-ITS1序列进行分析。【结果】美洲斑潜蝇8个地理种群间的分化程度较低,只有8个变异位点,遗传距离都在0.02以下,但4个近缘种间的碱基差异显著,遗传距离为0.149～0.390,有126个变异位点,12个美洲斑潜蝇特异性识别位点。【结论】虽然基于rDNA-ITS1序列所显示的美洲斑潜蝇各地理种群之间的遗传分化很小,但是其分化趋势与地理分布基本相吻合;得到的12个特异性识别位点不仅可以作为美洲斑潜蝇与其近缘种间鉴别的分子标记,而且可为今后设计鉴别性PCR引物提供重要的参考依据。     

Fine‐scale population structure of Collichtys lucidus populations inferred from microsatellite markers

The spinyhead croaker Collichthys lucidus (Richardson) is a small sciaenid species distributed along the inshore waters of northwestern Pacific Ocean, and now has been listed as Key Protected Commercial Sources of Aquatic Animals and Plants in China. To delineate stock boundaries and inform conservation policy for its management, samples were collected from eight locations across the Chinese coastal waters and analyzed at nine microsatellite loci. C. lucidus populations showed low genetic diversity (expected heterozygosity = 0.445–0.542; observed heterozygosity = 0.392–0.539; Polymorphism Information Content = 0.268–0.684). Strong genetic fdifferentiation (F_st = 0.065–0.510, all significant after Bonferroni correction) among all populations and high levels of self‐recruitment (89.2%–91.5%) were observed, which suggested limited genetic exchange for this species. Clustering results of discriminant analysis of principal components and STRUCTURE found strong support for obvious genetic clusters (populations FZ, XM and SZ vs. populations SH, YRE, ZS, WZ and ND). The results of the present study not only supported the phylogeographic pattern of north‐south differentiation, but also suggested that C. lucidus populations may be predominantly sustained by self‐replenishment rather than by recruitment from distant populations.     

Primers for the amplification of sequence‐characterized loci in Cryphonectria cubensis populations

We describe the development of DNA markers for the fungal pathogen of Eucalyptus, Cryphonectria cubensis. These markers originated from cloned intershort sequence repeat polymerase chain reactions, which enrich for medium to highly repetitive DNA sequences. In total, 10 markers were isolated, eight of which were polymorphic, and these can subsequently be applied to study populations of C. cubensis.     

Estimation of migration rates from marker‐based parentage analysis

Coupled with rapid developments of efficient genetic markers, powerful population genetic methods were proposed to estimate migration rates (m) in natural populations in much broader spatial and temporal scales than the traditional mark‐release‐recapture (MRR) methods. Highly polymorphic (e.g. microsatellites) and genomic‐wide (e.g. SNPs) markers provide sufficient information to assign individuals to their populations or parents of origin and thereby to estimate directly m in a way similar to MRR. Such direct estimates of current migration rates are particularly useful in understanding the ecology and microevolution of wild populations and in managing the populations in the future. In this study, I proposed and implemented, in the software MigEst, a likelihood method to use marker‐based parentage assignments in jointly estimating m and candidate parent sampling proportions (x) in a subset of populations, investigated its power and accuracy using data simulated in various scenarios of population properties (e.g. the actual m, number, size and differentiation of populations) and sampling properties (e.g. the numbers of sampled parent candidates, offspring and markers), compared it with the population assignment approach implemented in the software BayesAss and demonstrated its usefulness by analysing a microsatellite data set from three natural populations of Brazilian bats. Simulations showed that MigEst provides unbiased and accurate estimates of m and performs better than BayesAss except when populations are highly differentiated with very small and ecologically insignificant migration rates. A valuable property of MigEst is that in the presence of unsampled populations, it gives good estimates of the rate of migration among sampled populations as well as of the rate of migration into each sampled population from the pooled unsampled populations.     

Maintenance of transposable element copy number in natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans

To investigate the main forces controlling the containment of transposable elements (TE) in natural populations, we analyzed the copia, mdg1, and 412 elements in various populations of Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans. A lower proportion of insertion sites on the X chromosome in comparison with the autosomes suggests that selection against the detrimental effects of TE insertions is the major force containing TE copies in populations of Drosophila. This selection effect hypothesis is strengthened by the absence of the negative correlation between recombination rate and TE copy number along the chromosomes, which was expected under the alternative ectopic exchange model (selection against the deleterious rearrangements promoted by recombination between TE insertions). A cline in 412 copy number in relation to latitude was observed among the natural populations of D. simulans, with very high numbers existing in some local populations (around 60 copies in a sample from Canberra, Australia). An apparent absence of selection effects in this Canberra sample and a value of transposition rate equal to 1–2 × 10^-3 whatever the population and its copy number agree with the idea of recent but temporarily drastic TE movements in local populations. The high values of transposition rate in D. simulans clearly disfavor the hypothesis that the low amount of transposable elements in this species could result from a low transposition rate. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

TETRASAT: a program for the population analysis of allotetraploid microsatellite data

Microsatellite markers are quite popular due to their degree of polymorphism and efficiency; however, the utility of such markers for analysing allotetraploid species is often hampered by an inability to determine allele copy number for partial heterozygotes. tetrasat is a program that uses an iterative substitution process to account for all probable combinations of allele copy numbers in populations with partial heterozygote samples. The program subsequently calculates allele frequencies, and mean Hardy–Weinberg expected heterozygosity (H_E), Shannon–Weiner Diversity Index (H′) and Nei's measure of population differentiation (G_ST) are reported for each locus and population. Of equal importance is the calculation of statistical variability generated by the missing data and allele substitution process, which allows for assessment of the strength of conclusions drawn from the statistics.