© 2008 The Authors Journal compilation © 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd Blackwell Publishing LtdSpatial distribution of mitochondrial and microsatellite DNA variation in Daubenton’s bat within Scotland

• Main Authors: Thongchai Ngamprasertwong, Iain J Mackie, Paul A. Racey, Stuart B Piertney
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2008
• Subjects: Daubenton’s bat; EBLV-2; gene flow; Myotis daubentonii; phylogeography; sex-biased dispersal; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.569.6736; http://www.abdn.ac.uk/staffpages/uploads/nhi570/Ngamprasertwong 2008 - Daubenton__s gene flow.pdf

Daubenton’s bat (Myotis daubentonii) is a known reservoir for European bat lyssavirus type 2 (EBLV-2). An appreciation of the potential for epidemiological spread and disease risk requires an understanding of the dispersal of the primary host, and any large-scale geographical barriers that may impede gene flow. The spatial pattern of microsatellite and mitochondrial DNA variation was examined to infer patterns of dispersal of bats among 35 populations across Scotland. DNA sequence variation at the mitochondrial control region and ND1 genes revealed two distinct phylogeographical clades, with generally non-overlapping geographical distributions except for a small number of populations where both matrilines were found in sympatry. Such discontinuity suggests that Scotland was recolonised twice following the retreat of the Pleistocene ice sheet with little subsequent matrilineal introgression. However, eight microsatellite loci showed low levels of genetic divergence among populations, even between populations from the two distinct mitochon-drial DNA clades. An overall, macrogeographical genetic isolation-by-distance pattern was observed, with high levels of gene flow among local populations. Apparently contrasting patterns of mitochondrial and microsatellite divergence at different scales could be explained by sex-specific differences in gene flow at large scales.