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Historical connections among river basins and climatic changes explain the biogeographic history of a water rat
BACKGROUND: The water rat Nectomys squamipes (Cricetidae: Sigmodontinae) is a semiaquatic rodent from eastern South America that shows shallow genetic structure across space, according to some studies. We tested the influence of hydrography and climatic changes on the genetic and phylogeographic str...
Autores principales: | , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
PeerJ Inc.
2018
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6065461/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30065889 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5333 |
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author | Dalapicolla, Jeronymo Leite, Yuri Luiz Reis |
author_facet | Dalapicolla, Jeronymo Leite, Yuri Luiz Reis |
author_sort | Dalapicolla, Jeronymo |
collection | PubMed |
description | BACKGROUND: The water rat Nectomys squamipes (Cricetidae: Sigmodontinae) is a semiaquatic rodent from eastern South America that shows shallow genetic structure across space, according to some studies. We tested the influence of hydrography and climatic changes on the genetic and phylogeographic structure of this semiaquatic small mammal. METHODS: DNA sequences of two mitochondrial genetic markers (Cyt b and D-loop) and six microsatellite loci from water rats were collected at 50 localities in five river basins in the Atlantic Forest along the eastern coast of South America. We evaluated the genetic structure within and among river basins, and we estimated divergence dates. Species distribution models for the present and past were built to identify possible gene flow paths. RESULTS: Mitochondrial data and species distribution models showed coherent results. Microsatellite loci showed a more complex pattern of genetic differentiation. The diversification of N. squamipes haplotypes occurred during the Pleistocene and the river basin cannot explain most of the genetic structure. We found evidence of population expansion during the last glacial maximum, and gene flow paths indicate historical connections among rivers in the Atlantic Forest. DISCUSSION: Historical connections among rivers in the Atlantic Forest may have allowed N. squamipes to disperse farther across and within basins, leading to shallow genetic structure. Population expansions and gene flow through the emerged continental shelf during glacial period support the Atlantis forest hypothesis, thus challenging the forest refuge hypothesis. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-6065461 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2018 |
publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-60654612018-07-31 Historical connections among river basins and climatic changes explain the biogeographic history of a water rat Dalapicolla, Jeronymo Leite, Yuri Luiz Reis PeerJ Biogeography BACKGROUND: The water rat Nectomys squamipes (Cricetidae: Sigmodontinae) is a semiaquatic rodent from eastern South America that shows shallow genetic structure across space, according to some studies. We tested the influence of hydrography and climatic changes on the genetic and phylogeographic structure of this semiaquatic small mammal. METHODS: DNA sequences of two mitochondrial genetic markers (Cyt b and D-loop) and six microsatellite loci from water rats were collected at 50 localities in five river basins in the Atlantic Forest along the eastern coast of South America. We evaluated the genetic structure within and among river basins, and we estimated divergence dates. Species distribution models for the present and past were built to identify possible gene flow paths. RESULTS: Mitochondrial data and species distribution models showed coherent results. Microsatellite loci showed a more complex pattern of genetic differentiation. The diversification of N. squamipes haplotypes occurred during the Pleistocene and the river basin cannot explain most of the genetic structure. We found evidence of population expansion during the last glacial maximum, and gene flow paths indicate historical connections among rivers in the Atlantic Forest. DISCUSSION: Historical connections among rivers in the Atlantic Forest may have allowed N. squamipes to disperse farther across and within basins, leading to shallow genetic structure. Population expansions and gene flow through the emerged continental shelf during glacial period support the Atlantis forest hypothesis, thus challenging the forest refuge hypothesis. PeerJ Inc. 2018-07-27 /pmc/articles/PMC6065461/ /pubmed/30065889 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5333 Text en ©2018 Dalapicolla and Leite http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited. |
spellingShingle | Biogeography Dalapicolla, Jeronymo Leite, Yuri Luiz Reis Historical connections among river basins and climatic changes explain the biogeographic history of a water rat |
title | Historical connections among river basins and climatic changes explain the biogeographic history of a water rat |
title_full | Historical connections among river basins and climatic changes explain the biogeographic history of a water rat |
title_fullStr | Historical connections among river basins and climatic changes explain the biogeographic history of a water rat |
title_full_unstemmed | Historical connections among river basins and climatic changes explain the biogeographic history of a water rat |
title_short | Historical connections among river basins and climatic changes explain the biogeographic history of a water rat |
title_sort | historical connections among river basins and climatic changes explain the biogeographic history of a water rat |
topic | Biogeography |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6065461/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30065889 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5333 |
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