The determinants of genetic diversity in butterflies

Under the neutral theory, genetic diversity is expected to increase with population size. While comparative analyses have consistently failed to find strong relationships between census population size and genetic diversity, a recent study across animals identified a strong correlation between propa...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Mackintosh, Alexander, Laetsch, Dominik R., Hayward, Alexander, Charlesworth, Brian, Waterfall, Martin, Vila, Roger, Lohse, Konrad
Formato: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2019
País:España
Recursos:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/207215
Acesso em linha:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/207215
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Biodiversity
Biogeography
Evolutionary genetics
Genetic variation
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Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
Descrição
Resumo:Under the neutral theory, genetic diversity is expected to increase with population size. While comparative analyses have consistently failed to find strong relationships between census population size and genetic diversity, a recent study across animals identified a strong correlation between propagule size and genetic diversity, suggesting that r-strategists that produce many small offspring, have greater long-term population sizes. Here we compare genome-wide genetic diversity across 38 species of European butterflies (Papilionoidea), a group that shows little variation in reproductive strategy. We show that genetic diversity across butterflies varies over an order of magnitude and that this variation cannot be explained by differences in current abundance, propagule size, host or geographic range. Instead, neutral genetic diversity is negatively correlated with body size and positively with the length of the genetic map. This suggests that genetic diversity is determined both by differences in long-term population size and the effect of selection on linked sites.