2003/07/24 by Matthias Sanetra, R. H. Crozier · 1 citation
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior #Plant and animal studies #Animal Behavior and Reproduction #Biology #Biological dispersal #Gene flow #Mitochondrial DNA #Microsatellite #Population #Evolutionary biology #Haplotype #Effective population size #Zoology #Genetic structure #Ecology #Genetics #Genetic variation #Gene #Genotype
paper · doi:10.1046/j.1365-294x.2003.01900.x
openalex publication_date 2003/07/24 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
The Australian endemic ant Nothomyrmecia macrops is renowned for having retained a large proportion of 'primitive' morphological and behavioural characters. Another less studied peculiarity of this species is the production of short-winged (brachypterous) female sexuals, which presumably are poor dispersers. The males, in contrast, bear a full set of normally developed wings and thus may disperse widely. We investigated patterns of genetic differentiation within and among three distantly separated populations in South Australia using nine polymorphic microsatellite loci and four regions of mitochondrial DNA (COI, COII, Cytb, lrRNA). We sampled eight subpopulations, one in the Lake Gilles CP, two near Penong and five around Poochera where distances ranged from 360 km to sites separated by 2-10 km. Only little differentiation was found at the local scale (within the assumed dispersal distance of males) using nuclear markers, whereas the three distant locations were moderately differentiated (FST = 0.06). Mitochondrial DNA genetic structure was much more pronounced on all scales (phiST = 0.98), with regular differences in both haplotype composition and frequency even occurring among closely located sites. This lack of congruence between nuclear and mitochondrial markers strongly suggests limited female dispersal and male-biased gene flow among populations. As to the conservation status of the species there is no evidence for severe population reductions in the recent past, which would have left populations genetically depauperate.