title: Genome size differences in Hyalella cryptic species.
abstract: The  Hyalella azteca  (Saussure) complex includes numerous amphipod cryptic species in freshwater habitats in America as revealed by DNA barcoding surveys. Two ecomorphs (small and large) have evolved numerous times in this complex. Few phenotypic criteria have been found to differentiate between the numerous species of this complex. The present study aims to explore genome size differences between some species of the H. azteca complex co-occurring in a Canadian boreal lake using flow cytometry. Nuclear DNA content was estimated for 50 individuals belonging to six COI haplotypes corresponding to four provisional species of the H. azteca complex. Species from the large ecomorph had C-values significantly larger than species from the small ecomorph, whereas slight differences were found among species of the small ecomorph. These differences in genome sizes might be linked to ecological and physiological differences among species of the H. azteca complex.
authors.affiliation: Département de biologie, chimie et géographie et Centre d'études nordiques, Université du Québec à Rimouski, Rimouski, Canada. rvergilino@gmail.com
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vergilino
authors.forename: Kaven
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dionne
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nozais
authors.forename: France
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dufresne
authors.forename: Claude
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Belzile
mesh_terms: D033304:Amphipoda / Q000235:genetics*; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D058645:Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV / Q000235:genetics; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D059646:Genome Size / Q000235:genetics*; D006239:Haplotypes / Q000235:genetics; D060106:Lakes; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011792:Quebec; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV