Genetic diversity of bat species in the cross-border area of Greece and Bulgaria
Bats form a diverse order of mammals with a crucial ecological role. Bat populations appear to be declining because of human-induced environmental stress. Genetic methods contribute to study the species’ diversity and assess their population status. We aimed to study the genetic diversity of bats ac...
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Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
2023
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:0c74a85aab6045c1a6fd262542c1c455 2024-09-09T19:31:56+00:00 Genetic diversity of bat species in the cross-border area of Greece and Bulgaria Aristotelis Moulistanos Giorgos Chatzoglou Nikoletta Karaiskou Konstantinos Gkagkavouzis Styliani Minoudi Ioannis Papoulidis Charalambos Alivizatos Maria Panagiotopoulou Dionisios Youlatos Maria Tsaktsira Alexandros Triantafyllidis Apostolos Scaltsoyiannes 2023-06-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.26262/jbrt.v30i0.9024 https://doaj.org/article/0c74a85aab6045c1a6fd262542c1c455 EN eng Aristotle University of Thessaloniki https://ejournals.lib.auth.gr/jbiolres/article/view/9024 https://doaj.org/toc/2241-5793 2241-5793 doi:10.26262/jbrt.v30i0.9024 https://doaj.org/article/0c74a85aab6045c1a6fd262542c1c455 Journal of Biological Research - Thessaloniki, Vol 30, Iss 0 (2023) coi gene miniopterus schreibersii rhinolophus species heterozygosity rhodopi mountain range balkan peninsula Biology (General) QH301-705.5 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.26262/jbrt.v30i0.9024 2024-08-05T17:49:33Z Bats form a diverse order of mammals with a crucial ecological role. Bat populations appear to be declining because of human-induced environmental stress. Genetic methods contribute to study the species’ diversity and assess their population status. We aimed to study the genetic diversity of bats across the Rhodope Mountain Range, where both species with a large distribution as well as rare species with a limited distribution are found. Βat samples were collected and morphologically identified within the catchment area of Nestos (Mesta) River and from caves in the region of Momchilgrad – Komotini. Based on the analysis of a mitochondrial COI gene region of 650 bp length, the samples were classified in 9 distinct genera and 21 species, an important part of Balkan bat species diversity. Miniopterus schreibersii displayed the highest number of haplotypes and Rhinolophus hipposideros the highest mtDNA diversity levels. The majority of the samples were grouped with other European sequences and no specific geographic distribution of haplotypes was observed, except for Barbastella barbastellus and Hypsugo savii, where a western/eastern divide is apparent. Three species with the most numerous samples were further analyzed using 4-5 microsatellite markers per species. No sign of population differentiation was found between studied samples for these three species and moderate to high diversity levels were detected for Rhinolophus blasii and Rhinolophus euryale in contrast to mitochondrial analysis. The results confirm the presence of specific bat species in the cross-border area of Greece and Bulgaria through genetic identification and provide information for levels of genetic variation for some of them that may contribute to future bat management efforts in the region. Article in Journal/Newspaper Barbastella barbastellus Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
coi gene miniopterus schreibersii rhinolophus species heterozygosity rhodopi mountain range balkan peninsula Biology (General) QH301-705.5 |
spellingShingle |
coi gene miniopterus schreibersii rhinolophus species heterozygosity rhodopi mountain range balkan peninsula Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Aristotelis Moulistanos Giorgos Chatzoglou Nikoletta Karaiskou Konstantinos Gkagkavouzis Styliani Minoudi Ioannis Papoulidis Charalambos Alivizatos Maria Panagiotopoulou Dionisios Youlatos Maria Tsaktsira Alexandros Triantafyllidis Apostolos Scaltsoyiannes Genetic diversity of bat species in the cross-border area of Greece and Bulgaria |
topic_facet |
coi gene miniopterus schreibersii rhinolophus species heterozygosity rhodopi mountain range balkan peninsula Biology (General) QH301-705.5 |
description |
Bats form a diverse order of mammals with a crucial ecological role. Bat populations appear to be declining because of human-induced environmental stress. Genetic methods contribute to study the species’ diversity and assess their population status. We aimed to study the genetic diversity of bats across the Rhodope Mountain Range, where both species with a large distribution as well as rare species with a limited distribution are found. Βat samples were collected and morphologically identified within the catchment area of Nestos (Mesta) River and from caves in the region of Momchilgrad – Komotini. Based on the analysis of a mitochondrial COI gene region of 650 bp length, the samples were classified in 9 distinct genera and 21 species, an important part of Balkan bat species diversity. Miniopterus schreibersii displayed the highest number of haplotypes and Rhinolophus hipposideros the highest mtDNA diversity levels. The majority of the samples were grouped with other European sequences and no specific geographic distribution of haplotypes was observed, except for Barbastella barbastellus and Hypsugo savii, where a western/eastern divide is apparent. Three species with the most numerous samples were further analyzed using 4-5 microsatellite markers per species. No sign of population differentiation was found between studied samples for these three species and moderate to high diversity levels were detected for Rhinolophus blasii and Rhinolophus euryale in contrast to mitochondrial analysis. The results confirm the presence of specific bat species in the cross-border area of Greece and Bulgaria through genetic identification and provide information for levels of genetic variation for some of them that may contribute to future bat management efforts in the region. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Aristotelis Moulistanos Giorgos Chatzoglou Nikoletta Karaiskou Konstantinos Gkagkavouzis Styliani Minoudi Ioannis Papoulidis Charalambos Alivizatos Maria Panagiotopoulou Dionisios Youlatos Maria Tsaktsira Alexandros Triantafyllidis Apostolos Scaltsoyiannes |
author_facet |
Aristotelis Moulistanos Giorgos Chatzoglou Nikoletta Karaiskou Konstantinos Gkagkavouzis Styliani Minoudi Ioannis Papoulidis Charalambos Alivizatos Maria Panagiotopoulou Dionisios Youlatos Maria Tsaktsira Alexandros Triantafyllidis Apostolos Scaltsoyiannes |
author_sort |
Aristotelis Moulistanos |
title |
Genetic diversity of bat species in the cross-border area of Greece and Bulgaria |
title_short |
Genetic diversity of bat species in the cross-border area of Greece and Bulgaria |
title_full |
Genetic diversity of bat species in the cross-border area of Greece and Bulgaria |
title_fullStr |
Genetic diversity of bat species in the cross-border area of Greece and Bulgaria |
title_full_unstemmed |
Genetic diversity of bat species in the cross-border area of Greece and Bulgaria |
title_sort |
genetic diversity of bat species in the cross-border area of greece and bulgaria |
publisher |
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.26262/jbrt.v30i0.9024 https://doaj.org/article/0c74a85aab6045c1a6fd262542c1c455 |
genre |
Barbastella barbastellus |
genre_facet |
Barbastella barbastellus |
op_source |
Journal of Biological Research - Thessaloniki, Vol 30, Iss 0 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://ejournals.lib.auth.gr/jbiolres/article/view/9024 https://doaj.org/toc/2241-5793 2241-5793 doi:10.26262/jbrt.v30i0.9024 https://doaj.org/article/0c74a85aab6045c1a6fd262542c1c455 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.26262/jbrt.v30i0.9024 |
_version_ |
1809900746801414144 |