title: A Global Population Genetic Study of Pantala flavescens.
abstract: Among terrestrial arthropods, the dragonfly species Pantala flavescens is remarkable due to their nearly global distribution and extensive migratory ranges; the largest of any known insect. Capable of migrating across oceans, the potential for high rates of gene flow among geographically distant populations is significant. It has been hypothesized that P. flavescens may be a global panmictic population but no sufficient genetic evidence has been collected thus far. Through a population genetic analysis of P. flavescens samples from North America, South America, and Asia, the current study aimed to examine the extent at which gene flow is occurring on a global scale and discusses the implications of the genetic patterns we uncovered on population structure and genetic diversity of the species. This was accomplished using PCR-amplified cytochrome oxidase one (CO1) mitochondrial DNA data to reconstruct phylogenetic trees, a haplotype network, and perform molecular variance analyses. Our results suggested high rates of gene flow are occurring among all included geographic regions; providing the first significant evidence that Pantala flavescens should be considered a global panmictic population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey, United States of America.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Troast
authors.affiliation: Institut für Geoökologie, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany.
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Suhling
authors.affiliation: School of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Miyagi University, Miyagi, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jinguji
authors.affiliation: Ecology and Environmental Science, Halmstad University, Halmstad, Sweden.
authors.forename: Göran
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sahlén
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey, United States of America.
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ware
mesh_terms: D063147:Animal Distribution; D000818:Animals; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics*; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV / Q000235:genetics*; D051456:Gene Flow; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D063191:Odonata / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV