Admixture of eastern and western European red deer lineages as a result of postglacial re-colonisation of the Czech Republic (Central Europe)

Due to a restriction of the distributional range of European red deer (Cervus elaphus L.) during the Quaternary and subsequent recolonization of Europe from different refugia, a clear phylogeographical pattern in genetic structure has been revealed using mitochondrial DNA markers. In Central Europe, 2 distinct, eastern and western, lineages of European red deer are present; however, admixture between them has not yet been studied in detail. We used mitochondrial DNA (control region and cytochrome b gene) sequences and 22 microsatellite loci from 522 individuals to investigate the genetic diversity of red deer in what might be expected to be an intermediate zone. We discovered a high number of unique mtDNA haplotypes belonging to each lineage and high levels of genetic diversity (cyt b H = 0.867, D-loop H = 0.914). The same structuring of red deer populations was also revealed by microsatellite analysis, with results from both analyses thus suggesting a suture zone between the 2 lineages...受第四纪时期欧洲马鹿（Cervus elaphus L.）分布范围收缩，以及后续从不同冰期避难所（refugia）重新拓殖欧洲的影响，研究人员已通过线粒体DNA（mitochondrial DNA, mtDNA）标记揭示其遗传结构具备清晰的系统地理格局。在中欧地区，欧洲马鹿存在两个独立的谱系——东部谱系与西部谱系，但二者之间的遗传混合尚未得到细致研究。本研究采集了522个个体的线粒体DNA（控制区及细胞色素b基因（cytochrome b gene））序列与22个微卫星位点（microsatellite loci）数据，对推测为两谱系过渡带的欧洲马鹿种群的遗传多样性展开了调查。研究发现，两个谱系均拥有大量专属的线粒体DNA单倍型（haplotype），且整体遗传多样性水平较高（细胞色素b基因单倍型多样性H=0.867，D-loop控制区单倍型多样性H=0.914）。微卫星位点分析同样揭示了欧洲马鹿种群的这一分化结构，两项分析的结果均表明，两个谱系之间存在一处接触杂交带（suture zone）……