title: [Genetic variation of carrion and hooded crows and their hybrids based on RAPD-PCR data].
abstract: RAPD-PCR analysis of genetic variability of carrion crows, hooded crows and their phenotypic hybrids from the zones of overlap of their areals and hybridization of parental forms in Siberia has been carried out. According to RAPD variability the following parameters were estimated for both species and their hybrids: genetical distances (DN), polymorphism (P95), mean expected heterozygosity (H(e)), gene fixation coefficient (Fst) and the portion of interpopulation differentiation (Gst). It was shown that the rate of genetic variability in carrion crows and hooded crows is less than in the hybrids. It turned out that the hybrids were genetically closer to each other (DN = 0.295) than to both parental species (DN = 0.441 and 0.397 with C. corone and C. cornix, correspondingly). The studied individuals of C. cornix show the minimal level of heterozygosity and polymorphism (H(e) = 0.12 and P95 = = 27.8%) in comparison with C. corone and the crows of hybrid zone (H(e) = 0.18 and 0.20; P95 = 42.6% and 50.4%, correspondingly). Right's indexes of inbreeding (Fst = 0.285) and population spliting (Gst = 0.352) indicate low genetic variability in all the analysed birds. Nevertheless UPGMA and NJ dendrogrammes differentiate the individuals from the areals of carrion crows, hooded crows and from hybrid zone to different clusters. Our data correlate with molecular-genetic investigations of Corvidae carried out with other methods, and do not contradict the conception of carrion crows and hooded crows as semispecies in the context of the conception of overspecies.
authors.affiliation: l-spiridonova@mail.ru
authors.forename: L N
authors.initials: LN
authors.lastname: Spiridonova
authors.forename: A P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Kriukov
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002678:Chimera; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006579:Heterozygote; D010802:Phylogeny; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D019105:Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique / Q000379:methods*; D020308:Songbirds / Q000235:genetics*; D013045:Species Specificity