title: Phylogeography of the vairone (Leuciscus souffia, Risso 1826) in Central Europe.
abstract: The vairone Leuciscus souffia is a cyprinid fish that inhabits river systems in and around the Alps. The complete mitochondrial DNA control region (945 bp) was sequenced in 295 vairone from 22 populations in Central Europe. A total of 51 haplotypes were identified with a maximum pairwise distance between haplotypes of 5.6%. Phylogenetic analyses revealed two major clades in L. souffia, an 'Italian' clade, and an 'Alpine' clade. Two hybrid zones exist, in the Mediterranean Alps and in the Soca basin. The position of the sister species of L. souffia, L. turskyi, to the 'Alpine' and the 'Italian' clade could not be resolved unambiguously. However, a linearized tree analysis indicated that L. turskyi represents a third lineage, that originated at the same time as the 'Alpine' and the 'Italian' clades of L. souffia. In the 'Alpine' clade two groups were resolved, a subclade with haplotypes from the Rhône and Var basins and a cluster with haplotypes from the Danube and Rhine systems. Our data suggest a long history of the vairone in Central Europe, predating Pleistocene glacial cycles. Two main refugia during glaciations must have existed, one in Italy and another one most probably in the Danube system. However, age estimates based on molecular clock calibrations suggest the survival of 'Alpine' haplotypes in several drainages during the last glaciation cycles. The Rhine system was only recently colonized.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University Konstanz, Universitaetsstrasse 10, 78457 Konstanz, Germany. walter.salzburger@uni-konstanz.de
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Salzburger
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brandstätter
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gilles
authors.forename: Walther
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Parson
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hempel
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sturmbauer
authors.forename: Axel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Meyer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002980:Climate; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003530:Cyprinidae / Q000235:genetics*; D017931:DNA Primers; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D005060:Europe; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005618:Fresh Water; D005843:Geography; D006239:Haplotypes; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial