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Genetic consequences of bottlenecks and population admixture in Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber)
Náhlovský, Jan ; Munclinger, Pavel (advisor) ; Hulva, Pavel (referee)
In the last few centuries beavers passed through dramatic declining of the population size followed by expansion supported by reintroductions. The genetical variability is much decreased due to this bottleneck. Current beavers possess 31 known recent mitochondrial haplotypes, among which some were described independently several times. The haplotypes form two clusters, which serve as a base for dividing beaver populations into the west and east ESU. While microsatellite loci show moderate variability, the diversity of Y chromosome loci is very low. There are only ten described alleles of the DRB second exon, which belong to the MHC loci. No mitochondrial haplotype or MHC allele is shared between relict populations. This is not noticeable in samples from the time before the bottleneck. Described subspecies are therefore only the artefact of the recent bottleneck. Newly established populations comprise in many cases beavers of various origin and are more or less admixed. It seems, that the admixed populations have higher viability and conversely in some relict populations it is possible to find the evidence of the inbreeding depression. Thus, for reintroductions it is advantageous to use individuals from several source relict populations or to use beavers from admixed populations. Several species passed...
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Bottleneck and selection effects on MHC genes variability in relic and newly formed Eurasian beaver populations
Náhlovský, Jan ; Munclinger, Pavel (advisor) ; Bryja, Josef (referee)
MHC glycoproteins are an essential part of adaptive immunity and may also play a role in mate choice. In addition, MHC genes are the most variable of all known genes. For these reasons, they have been intensively studied for several last decades. However, research is complicated due to extreme variability and frequent duplications. The Eurasian beaver seems to serve as an interesting model. It underwent a dramatic bottleneck culminating in the end of 19th century, when only about 1,200 individuals survived in several isolated relic populations. Thanks to numerous reintroductions, beavers of various origin meet in newly established populations. However, knowledge of beaver MHC was very limited. Only a single MHC gene has been investigated in a detail, and some relic populations were not sampled. Utilising additional relic populations and additional MHC locus, I verified a significant reduction of the variability of beaver MHC genes and also found signs of selection in the past. Then I sequenced MHC loci in two newly formed populations. I confirmed the ongoing selection by the disruption of cytonuclear equilibrium and the advantage of divergent alleles. We therefore can have a unique insight into the several periods of the history of beaver populations: In the past, MHC diversity was shaped by a...
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Genetic consequences of bottlenecks and population admixture in Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber)
Náhlovský, Jan ; Munclinger, Pavel (advisor) ; Hulva, Pavel (referee)
In the last few centuries beavers passed through dramatic declining of the population size followed by expansion supported by reintroductions. The genetical variability is much decreased due to this bottleneck. Current beavers possess 31 known recent mitochondrial haplotypes, among which some were described independently several times. The haplotypes form two clusters, which serve as a base for dividing beaver populations into the west and east ESU. While microsatellite loci show moderate variability, the diversity of Y chromosome loci is very low. There are only ten described alleles of the DRB second exon, which belong to the MHC loci. No mitochondrial haplotype or MHC allele is shared between relict populations. This is not noticeable in samples from the time before the bottleneck. Described subspecies are therefore only the artefact of the recent bottleneck. Newly established populations comprise in many cases beavers of various origin and are more or less admixed. It seems, that the admixed populations have higher viability and conversely in some relict populations it is possible to find the evidence of the inbreeding depression. Thus, for reintroductions it is advantageous to use individuals from several source relict populations or to use beavers from admixed populations. Several species passed...
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