Demographic history and genomic consequences of 10,000 generations of isolation in a wild mammal. ...

• Main Authors: Wang, Xuejing, Peischl, Stephan, Heckel, Gerald
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Cell Press 2023
• Subjects: 570 Life sciences; biology; Microtus arvalis
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.48350/182542; https://boris.unibe.ch/182542/

Increased human activities caused the isolation of populations in many species-often associated with genetic depletion and negative fitness effects. The effects of isolation are predicted by theory, but long-term data from natural populations are scarce. We show, with full genome sequences, that common voles (Microtus arvalis) in the Orkney archipelago have remained genetically isolated from conspecifics in continental Europe since their introduction by humans over 5,000 years ago. Modern Orkney vole populations are genetically highly differentiated from continental conspecifics as a result of genetic drift processes. Colonization likely started on the biggest Orkney island and vole populations on smaller islands were gradually split off, without signs of secondary admixture. Despite having large modern population sizes, Orkney voles are genetically depauperate and successive introductions to smaller islands resulted in further reduction of genetic diversity. We detected high levels of fixation of predicted ...