Ecological Genetics of Rusty-Necklaced Partridge (Alectoris magnd): Environmental Factors and Population Genetic Variability Correlations

摘要

Field studies of both genetic variability and natural selection have been central to ecological genetics. There have been a lot of studies on gene (or genotype) and environmental interaction, and we all know that environmental factors are very important to maintaining genetic variability. We do not discover the concrete mechanism by which environment can affect genetic variability. But we have many suggestions about the mechanism. This study used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control-region to infer therelationship between population genetic diversity of rusty-necklaced partridge (Alectoris magnd} and environmental factors. A 458bp fragment of the mitochondrial DNA control region was sequenced from 82 rusty-necklaced partridge throughout the subspeciesrange in northwestern China. Twenty-seven variable sites defined 25 mtDNA haplotypes. Statistically significant differences in mtDNA haplotypes frequencies were observed among all populations. Rusty-necklaced partridge genetic diversity (TT- and h- values) decreased with longitude, temperature, rainfall, variation coefficients of temperature and rainfall(annual change) cline. However, genetic diversity increased with increasing latitude and altitude. The more stable the climate, the higher the geneticdiversity observed. Natural selection and environmental factors may act to maintain the genetic diversity of rusty-necklaced partridge populations.