Population genetics of sexual and asexual Aptinothrips rufus (O. Thysanoptera)

Diplôme Master Population genetics of sexual and asexual Aptinothrips rufus (O. Thysanoptera) eng 2015 author Fontcuberta Garcia Cuenca Amaranta 805169 director Schwander Tanja director Sanchez-Mazas Alicia 22545 Despite being costly, sexual reproduction is predominant among eukaryotes. One of the main advantages that have been traditionally attributed to sex is the increase of genetic variation in populations. However, not always sex increases genetic diversity in populations and populations of asexual individuals might be as much as diverse as sexual ones. Thus, it is not clear how does genetic variation differ between natural populations of individuals with sexual or asexual reproductive modes. Aptinothrips rufus (O. Thysanoptera) is an insect species where sexual and asexual populations coexist. While asexual populations occur over a vast geographical area, sexual populations are confined to the Mediterranean region. Here we use mitochondrial and nuclear markers (including sequence markers and microsatellites) to characterize genetic diversity in sexual and asexual populations of A. rufus; and we investigate the mechanisms that might have generated the observed diversity patterns. We found that asexual of Aptinothrips rufus harbour an exceptionally high level of mitochondrial diversity in relation to their sexual relatives, but also in comparison to population diversities reported in other asexual species. In some asexual populations, there is a mix of clones from different phylogenetic origins, whereas in others, there is mix of clones from one very diversified asexual clade. Little differentiation among very distant asexual populations suggests migration of asexuals over large geographical distances. By contrast, geographically close sexual populations are strongly isolated. We suggest that high migration ability of A. rufus asexuals has allowed them to have a demographic expansion during an inter-glacial period of the late Pleistocene, and to colonize localities across the Holarctic region. Parthenogenetic reproduction Population genetics Mitochondrial and nuclear genetic diversity Automixis Thysanoptera Dewey 590 Master in Biology. Orientation Genetics, Development and Evolution Autre Bourse Fundación Mutua Madrileña to AF 44 Département de génétique et évolution 162 false a5980dbd-d8c0-40fe-96e8-6f4a92c9f5c4 Master thesis Restricted AFontcuberta_FINAL.pdf 1662548 application/pdf restrictedAccess Faculté des sciences / Section de biologie / Département de génétique et évolution

Title	Published in	Access level	OA Policy	Year	Views	Downloads

Population genetics of sexual and asexual Aptinothrips rufus (O. Thysanoptera)				2015	179	0

Archive ouverte UNIGE

Fontcuberta Garcia Cuenca, Amaranta