title: Microsatellite genotyping reveals end-Pleistocene decline in mammoth autosomal genetic variation.
abstract: The last glaciation was a dynamic period with strong impact on the demography of many species and populations. In recent years, mitochondrial DNA sequences retrieved from radiocarbon-dated remains have provided novel insights into the history of Late Pleistocene populations. However, genotyping of loci from the nuclear genome may provide enhanced resolution of population-level changes. Here, we use four autosomal microsatellite DNA markers to investigate the demographic history of woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius) in north-eastern Siberia from before 60 000 years ago up until the species' final disappearance c.4000 years ago. We identified two genetic groups, implying a marked temporal genetic differentiation between samples with radiocarbon ages older than 12 thousand radiocarbon years before present (ka) and those younger than 9ka. Simulation-based analysis indicates that this dramatic change in genetic composition, which included a decrease in individual heterozygosity of approximately 30%, was due to a multifold reduction in effective population size. A corresponding reduction in genetic variation was also detected in the mitochondrial DNA, where about 65% of the diversity was lost. We observed no further loss in genetic variation during the Holocene, which suggests a rapid final extinction event.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, S-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden. veronica.nystrom@nrm.se
authors.forename: Veronica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Nyström
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Humphrey
authors.forename: Pontus
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Skoglund
authors.forename: Niall J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: McKeown
authors.forename: Sergey
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vartanyan
authors.forename: Paul W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Shaw
authors.forename: Kerstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lidén
authors.forename: Mattias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jakobsson
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Barnes
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Angerbjörn
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lister
authors.forename: Love
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dalén
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D053476:Extinction, Biological; D005580:Fossils; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D056665:Mammoths / Q000235:genetics*; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012800:Siberia
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial