Large-Scale Patterns of Genetic Variation in a Female-Biased Dispersing Passerine: The Importance of Sex-Based Analyses

Abstract

Dispersal affects the distribution, dynamics and genetic structure of natural populations, and can be significantly different between sexes. However, literature records dealing with the dispersal of migratory birds are scarce, as migratory behaviour can notably complicate the study of dispersal. We used the barn swallow Hirundo rustica as model taxon to investigate patterns of genetic variability in males and in females of a migratory species showing sex-biased dispersal. We collected blood samples (n = 186) over the period 2006 to 2011 from adults (H. r. rustica subspecies) nesting in the same breeding site at either high (Ireland, Germany and Russia) or low (Spain, Italy and Cyprus) latitude across Europe. We amplified the Chromo Helicase DNA gene in all birds in order to warrant a sex-balanced sample size (92 males, 94 females). We investigated both uniparental (mitochondrial ND2 gene) and biparental (microsatellite DNA: 10 loci) genetic systems. The mtDNA provided evidence for demographic expansion yet no significant partition of the genetic variability was disclosed. Nevertheless, a comparatively distant Russian population investigated in another study, whose sequences were included in the present dataset, significantly diverged from all other ones. Different to previous studies, microsatellites highlighted remarkable genetic structure among the studied populations, and pointed to the occurrence of differences between male and female barn swallows. We produced evidence for non-random patterns of gene flow among barn swallow populations probably mediated by female natal dispersal, and we found significant variability in the philopatry of males of different populations. Our data emphasize the importance of taking into account the sex of sampled individuals in order to obtain reliable inferences on species characterized by different patterns of dispersal between males and females.

Isolation-by-distance and male-biased dispersal at a fine spatial scale: a study of the common European adder (Vipera berus) in a rural landscape

“…Multi scales approaches are particularly relevant to address the spatial dependence of landscape effects and genetic patterns Fahrig 2012, 2015) that may vary among sexes (Gauffre et al 2009;Guerrini et al 2014). We detected a male-biased dispersal at all spatial scales, but the difference was significant only for the spatial scale of 1,000-2,000 m (Fig.…”

“…Second, we revealed that dispersal was sex-biased and scale-dependent: both sexes had a similar dispersal at a local scale, whereas males dispersed farther at a larger scale. These findings underline the importance of considering how genetic variation is affected depending on the sex (Guerrini et al 2014) and the spatial scale of the effects (Gauffre et al 2009;Keller et al 2013). Moreover, genetic diversity of males varied with the quality of the environment, which was not detected in females.…”

Reed warblers in the Marquesas Islands: song divergence and plumage convergence of two distinct lineages

“…Vocal characteristics may act as the main pre-zygotic barriers when birds from different lineages come into contact. In a majority of passerines with a monogamous breeding strategy, dispersal is femalemediated (Greenwood 1980), as shown in migratory species (Guerrini et al 2014) and in at least one insular situation (Paris et al 2016). Although our data set was not designed to test sex-biased dispersal within the Marquesas archipelago, the occurrence of mitochondrial haplotype introgression is consistent with dispersal of at least one female between the two groups.…”

Dried Blood Spots technology for veterinary applications and biological investigations: technical aspects, retrospective analysis, ongoing status and future perspectives

“…An important direction of DBS technology application is the causative agent sero-/genotyping and phylogenetic analysis (Michaud et al 2007 ; Kennedy et al 2008 ; Brito et al 2008 ; Sintasath et al 2009a , b ; Madhanmohan et al 2013 ; Bhuiyan et al 2014 ; LeClaire et al 2015 ; Jóźwiak et al 2016 ; Ball et al 2016 ; Manswr et al 2018 ) as well as molecular detection/identification of the pathogen (Adams et al 2006 , 2008 ). Dried samples found application in populational genetics studies as a convenient instrument of sample collection and investigation (Sacks et al 2004 ; Silva et al 2009 ; Lall et al 2010 ; Kraus et al 2013 ; Guerrini et al 2014 ; Kashiwagi et al 2015 ; Nunziata et al 2016 ). Isolation and characterization of DNA microsatellite markers, their genotyping for population genetic studies was also described in other works (Sacks et al 2004 ; King et al 2005 ; Lucentini et al 2006 ; Carr and Appleyard 2008 ; Heim et al 2012 ; Nunziata et al 2016 ).…”