Genetic insight into Mediterranean chukar (Alectoris chukar, Galliformes) populations inferred from mitochondrial DNA and RAPD markers |
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Authors: | Filippo Barbanera Monica Guerrini Pantelis Hadjigerou Panicos Panayides Christos Sokos Peter Wilkinson Aleem A. Khan Bakht Y. Khan Fabio Cappelli Fernando Dini |
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Affiliation: | (1) Department of Biology, Protistology-Zoology Unit, University of Pisa, Via A. Volta 6, 56126 Pisa, Italy;(2) The Cypriot Game Fund Service, Ministry of Interior, 1453 Nicosia, Cyprus;(3) Hunting Federation of Macedonia-Thrace, Ethnikis Antistaseos 173-175, 55134 Thessaloniki, Greece;(4) 42, Dale Avenue, Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire, UK;(5) Institute of Pure and Applied Biology, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan;(6) Italian Forest Service, Territorial Office for Biodiversity, V.le Giusti 65, 55100 Lucca, Italy |
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Abstract: | The chukar (Alectoris chukar, Galliformes) is one of the most important game birds as it is widely distributed and hunted over the whole of its range. The aim of this work was to assess the genetic differentiation as well as the possible presence of hybrid specimens in A. chukar populations from Italy, Greece and Cyprus. To provide phylogenetic context, conspecific, allopatric specimens from Israel, Georgia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Mongolia, China and USA were compared. Sequencing of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) Control Region supplied information on the ancestry of A. chukar populations, whereas Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) fingerprinting was used to assess whether hybridization had occurred. The Italian population was found to be an inter-specific mixture of A. chukar and A. rufa (i.e., the red-legged partridge) mtDNA lineages, whereas the representatives from Greece and Cyprus showed only the A. chukar maternal line. RAPD markers revealed introgression with A. rufa genes in the Italian population, whereas no A. chukar × A. rufa hybrid specimens were detected in the eastern Mediterranean populations. The genetic data obtained from the Italian A. chukar population as well as from a few Greek specimens pointed against their Mediterranean kinship, suggesting relationships with A. chukar subspecies from the easternmost part of the Asian continent. |
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Keywords: | Alectoris chukar Alectoris rufa Chukar partridge Control Region Genetic introgression mtDNA RAPD Red-legged partridge |
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