Genes, Vol. 13, Pages 2228: Characterising Mitochondrial Capture in an Iberian Shrew

Genes, Vol. 13, Pages 2228: Characterising Mitochondrial Capture in an Iberian Shrew Genes doi: 10.3390/genes13122228 Authors: Henry D. Kunerth Joaquim T. Tapisso Raul Valente Maria da Luz Mathias Paulo C. Alves Jeremy B. Searle Rodrigo Vega Joana Paupério Mitochondrial introgression raises questions of biogeography and of the extent of reproductive isolation and natural selection. Previous phylogenetic work on the Sorex araneus complex revealed apparent mitonuclear discordance in Iberian shrews, indicating past hybridisation of Sorex granarius and the Carlit chromosomal race of S. araneus, enabling introgression of the S. araneus mitochondrial genome into S. granarius. To further study this, we genetically typed 61 Sorex araneus/coronatus/granarius from localities in Portugal, Spain, France, and Andorra at mitochondrial, autosomal, and sex-linked loci and combined our data with the previously published sequences. Our data are consistent with earlier data indicating that S. coronatus and S. granarius are the most closely related of the three species, confirming that S. granarius from the Central System mountain range in Spain captured the mitochondrial genome from a population of S. araneus. This mitochondrial capture event can be explained by invoking a biogeographical scenario whereby S. araneus was in contact with S. granarius during the Younger Dryas in central Iberia, despite the two species currently having disjunct distributions. We discuss wheth...
Source: Genes - Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Tags: Article Source Type: research