Historical and modern neutral genetic variability in Mednyi Arctic foxes passed through a severe bottleneck

• Published in: Journal of Zoology
• Main Authors: Ploshnitsa, A. I., Goltsman, M. E., Happ, G. M., Macdonald, D. W., Kennedy, L. J.
• Other Authors: Volff, Jean‐Nicolas
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2012
• Subjects: Arctic; Laskan
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2012.00964.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1469-7998.2012.00964.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2012.00964.x; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2012.00964.x; https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2012.00964.x

Abstract Small isolated populations often show lower genetic variability. Demographic bottlenecks lead to loss of genetic variation too. A rctic foxes ( V ulpes lagopus ) have been isolated since the P leistocene on M ednyi and B ering I slands ( C ommander I slands). In 1970–1980, the M ednyi population passed through a severe bottleneck due to a mange outbreak. Previous studies showed lack of genetic diversity in the contemporary M ednyi population that could be due to the long history of isolation and/or the recent bottleneck. To test both factors, we analyzed the mt DNA D ‐loop fragment and five microsatellites in pre‐bottleneck M ednyi museum samples. Also, contemporary M ednyi, B ering and mainland A laskan A rctic foxes were analyzed. Registered genetic variability in historical M ednyi was higher than in contemporary M ednyi A rctic foxes, but lower than in contemporary the B ering population. Our data confirms that the bottleneck reduced an already depleted polymorphism in M ednyi A rctic foxes. Lack of genetic variability could be a reason why the M ednyi population did not recover following the outbreak of mange.