Adaptive and neutral markers both show continent‐wide population structure of mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) |
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Authors: | Philip D. Batista Jasmine K. Janes Celia K. Boone Brent W. Murray Felix A. H. Sperling |
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Affiliation: | 1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada;2. School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia;3. Biological Control and Spatial Ecology Lab (LUBIES), Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium;4. Natural Resources and Environmental Studies Institute, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, British Columbia, Canada |
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Abstract: | Assessments of population genetic structure and demographic history have traditionally been based on neutral markers while explicitly excluding adaptive markers. In this study, we compared the utility of putatively adaptive and neutral single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for inferring mountain pine beetle population structure across its geographic range. Both adaptive and neutral SNPs, and their combination, allowed range‐wide structure to be distinguished and delimited a population that has recently undergone range expansion across northern British Columbia and Alberta. Using an equal number of both adaptive and neutral SNPs revealed that adaptive SNPs resulted in a stronger correlation between sampled populations and inferred clustering. Our results suggest that adaptive SNPs should not be excluded prior to analysis from neutral SNPs as a combination of both marker sets resulted in better resolution of genetic differentiation between populations than either marker set alone. These results demonstrate the utility of adaptive loci for resolving population genetic structure in a nonmodel organism. |
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Keywords: | Adaptive selection
Dendroctonus ponderosae
mountain pine beetle population genetic structure |
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