Biogeography and population structure of the Neotropical endemic yeast species Metschnikowia lochheadii.
The genetic structure of populations of the out-crossing haplontic yeast species Metschnikowia lochheadii was investigated. The species is associated with floricolous beetles in Central America and Hawaii. The objective was to determine whether sexual reproduction is prevalent and to what extent the geographic distribution of genotypes can be viewed as historical. The genetic markers examined include the mating type (h (+) or h (-)) and nine polymorphic DNA loci. The data were used to assess population structuring based on F (ST) and linkage disequilibrium and the distribution of alleles using parsimony haplotype networks. In Central America, M. lochheadii is subdivided into sexually active demes between which gene flow is limited. Isolates from five Hawaiian islands had identical haplotypes, confirming that the species has undergone a founder effect concomitant with the recent import of a nitidulid beetle into the archipelago.
Department of Biology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. lachance@uwo.ca
Marc-André
MA
Lachance
Diana
D
Lawrie
Jessica
J
Dobson
Jacqueline
J
Piggott
D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000382:microbiology; D003364:Costa Rica; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000235:genetics; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D017753:Ecosystem; D018703:Founder Effect; D051456:Gene Flow; D006238:Haploidy; D006239:Haplotypes; D006254:Hawaii; D015810:Linkage Disequilibrium; D055163:Metschnikowia / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D018807:Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D014329:Tropical Climate
D017931:DNA Primers; D004271:DNA, Fungal; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal