Phylogeographic Population Structure of Red-Winged Blackbirds Assessed by Mitochondrial DNA

A continent-wide survey of restriction-site variation in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of the Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) was conducted to assess the magnitude of phylogeographic population structure in an avian species. A total of 34 mtDNA genotypes was observed among the 127 specimens a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 1988-03, Vol.85 (5), p.1558-1562
Main Authors: Ball, R. Martin, Freeman, Scott, James, Frances C., Bermingham, Eldredge, Avise, John C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agelaius phoeniceus
Biological and medical sciences
Biological Sciences: Evolution
Biological taxonomies
Evolutionary genetics
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Genes. Genome
Genotypes
Geographic distribution
Mice
Mitochondrial DNA
Molecular and cellular biology
Molecular genetics
Nucleotides
Phylogenetics
Population genetics
Population structure
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Summary:A continent-wide survey of restriction-site variation in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of the Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) was conducted to assess the magnitude of phylogeographic population structure in an avian species. A total of 34 mtDNA genotypes was observed among the 127 specimens assayed by 18 restriction endonucleases. Nonetheless, population differentiation was minor, as indicated by (i) small genetic distances in terms of base substitutions per nucleotide site between mtDNA genotypes (maximum P ≈ 0.008) and by (ii) the widespread geographic distributions of particular mtDNA clones and phylogenetic arrays of clones. Extensive morphological differentiation among redwing populations apparently has occurred in the context of relatively little phylogenetic separation. A comparison between mtDNA data sets for Red-winged Blackbirds and deermice (Peromyscus maniculatus) also sampled from across North America shows that intraspecific population structures of these two species differ dramatically. The lower phylogeographic differentiation in redwings is probably due to historically higher levels of gene flow.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.85.5.1558