Gene flow from multiple sources maintains high genetic diversity and stable population history of Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus in China

Abstract

In this study, we used mitochondrial control sequences and microsatellite data from 231 Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus individuals sampled from 19 sites in China to analyse their genetic structure and evolutionary history. High genetic diversity was found for all populations, although microsatellite analysis showed that the genetic diversity in non‐migratory populations was significantly higher than in migratory populations. High gene flow occurred between neighbouring populations, although long‐distance gene flow also occurred. The Huazhong population was the single greatest genetic source for other populations. High gene flow probably led to the shallow genetic structure that we observed. Demographic expansion was found in migratory populations, non‐migratory populations and with all individuals combined. The expansion time for all populations combined was estimated to be 221 000 years ago. The Common Moorhen population grew rapidly during the interglacial before the last glacial maximum (LGM), then remained generally stable from the LGM to the present.

Genetic structure and population dynamics of the silver pheasant (Lophuranycthemera) in southern China

“…Birds usually have a higher gene flow than other organisms because of their ability to fly and move over longer distances (Miller et al, 2015). Nuclear genetic differentiation ascending with gene flow among populations explained that in adjacent populations, those with high gene flow always have low genetic differentiation (Ruan et al, 2018). This study obtained consistent results with previous studies, which could be explained as high gene flow resulting in low genetic differentiation.…”

“…STRUCTURE also supported a weak geographic structure. High gene flow and genetic diversity may correspond to a fragile population structure (Li et al, 2015;Ruan et al, 2018). However, there was no significant sex-biased dispersal pattern in the silver pheasant, indicating that sex-biased dispersal must not be an explanation for the weak population structure.…”

“…The high genetic diversity in this area was also attributed to the long history (TMRCA = 970,300 ybp) of colonizing and evolving, and this observation was supported by the statistical analysis of historical demographic data (Table 6; Figure 2). Moreover, high gene flow and population expansion would promote the genetic diversity in Rallidae (Ruan et al, 2018).…”

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High gene flow and population expansion can promote genetic diversity (Song and Lei, 2014;Ruan et al, 2018;Xu et al, 2019). However, low genetic diversity can lead to a population bottlenecks (Excoffier et al, 2009).

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Characterization of the Complete Mitochondrial Genome of Sea Duck Mergus serrator and Comparison with other Anseriformes Species

“…MtDNA is typically double-stranded and maternally (Wolstenholme, 1992;Roques et al, 2004), it is valuable for studies of avian taxonomy and phylogeny (Shen et al, 2009;Jetz et al, 2012;Ren et al, 2014), genetic structure (Ruan et al, 2018), biological identification (Lecroy and Barker, 2006;Zhu et al, 2021), and conservation genetics (Allendorf et al, 2010), as it is a neutral molecular marker (Torroni et al, 2001;Nabholz et al, 2008). As the main energy suppliers of the cell, mitochondria produce approximately 90% of cellular ATP reserves through the highly efficient chemical osmotic coupling of electron and proton transfer to ATP synthesis (Saraste, 1999;Starkov, 2008).…”