Genetic insight into Mediterranean chukar (Alectoris chukar, Galliformes) populations inferred from mitochondrial DNA and RAPD markers.
The chukar (Alectoris chukar, Galliformes) is one of the most important game birds as it is widely distributed and hunted over the whole of its range. The aim of this work was to assess the genetic differentiation as well as the possible presence of hybrid specimens in A. chukar populations from Italy, Greece and Cyprus. To provide phylogenetic context, conspecific, allopatric specimens from Israel, Georgia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Mongolia, China and USA were compared. Sequencing of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) Control Region supplied information on the ancestry of A. chukar populations, whereas Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) fingerprinting was used to assess whether hybridization had occurred. The Italian population was found to be an inter-specific mixture of A. chukar and A. rufa (i.e., the red-legged partridge) mtDNA lineages, whereas the representatives from Greece and Cyprus showed only the A. chukar maternal line. RAPD markers revealed introgression with A. rufa genes in the Italian population, whereas no A. chukar x A. rufa hybrid specimens were detected in the eastern Mediterranean populations. The genetic data obtained from the Italian A. chukar population as well as from a few Greek specimens pointed against their Mediterranean kinship, suggesting relationships with A. chukar subspecies from the easternmost part of the Asian continent.
Barbanera
Filippo
F
Department of Biology, Protistology-Zoology Unit, University of Pisa, Via A. Volta 6, 56126 Pisa, Italy. fbarbanera@biologia.unipi.it
Guerrini
Monica
M
Hadjigerou
Pantelis
P
Panayides
Panicos
P
Sokos
Christos
C
Wilkinson
Peter
P
Khan
Aleem A
AA
Khan
Bakht Y
BY
Cappelli
Fabio
F
Dini
Fernando
F
D000818:Animals; D001208:Asia; D002678:Chimera; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics*; D005060:Europe; D046094:Galliformes / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D005819:Genetic Markers; D010802:Phylogeny; D011157:Population Dynamics; D019105:Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique
D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D005819:Genetic Markers