Cross-species testing of nuclear markers in Pelophylax water frogs in Greece and examination of their power to detect genetic admixture
2019
The
genus Pelophylax has been considered
a model organism for understanding hybridization. Despite being the most
diverse within the Western Palearctic group of Pelophylax, the ridibundus/bedriagae
lineage that includes six species, remains largely understudied, revealing many
knowledge gaps in regards to their evolution and conservation. Using
genetic data from populations among species inhabiting contact zones could
prove vital in filling these gaps. We tested 17 microsatellite markers for
cross-species amplification in mainland Pelophylax species distributed
in southern Balkans and evaluated their power to successfully detect
population/species structure. Importantly, we examined their potential for
identifying hybrids and backcrosses between known hybridized species. We detected 12 highly polymorphic loci that
cross-amplified all species that showed no significant Linkage Disequilibrium
and were able to discriminate among species and between parental and hybrids.
We suggest their future use in genetic studies for the genus Pelophylax in Greece, including
the identification of contact zones.
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