title: Phylogeography of the Vosges mountains populations of Gonioctena pallida (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae): a nested clade analysis of mitochondrial DNA haplotypes.
abstract: The pattern of genetic variation in the leaf beetle Gonioctena pallida was investigated inside the Vosges mountains using a highly variable 363 bp DNA fragment of the mitochondrial control region. Sequencing of 242 individuals, sampled in a geographical area of 100 x 40 km, identified 61 haplotypes whose genealogy was inferred. The resulting haplotype network exhibits four star-like phylogenies, two of which may be indicative of a population having recently expanded in size from a small number of founders. Nested clade analysis suggested multiple past expansion events, but also isolation by distance and possibly past fragmentation events, as the causes of the detected geographical associations of haplotypes. These results indicate the existence of effective barriers to gene flow inside the investigated area. Because the oldest demographic events inferred in the nested clade analysis were identified as expansion events, we hypothesize that a small population of founders have expanded not only in size, but also in geographical range from the south towards the north and east of the Vosges.
authors.affiliation: Unit of Evolutionary Genetics, Free University of Brussels, rue Jeener et Brachet 12, 6041 Gosselies, Belgium. pmarduly@ulb.ac.be
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mardulyn
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics*; D005060:Europe; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005828:Genetics, Population; D005843:Geography; D006239:Haplotypes; D008957:Models, Genetic; D010802:Phylogeny
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial