Acta Veterinaria et Zootechnica Sinica ›› 2022, Vol. 53 ›› Issue (3): 731-742.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2022.03.007

• ANIMAL GENETICS AND BREEDING • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Population Genetic Evolution of Lepus tibetanus in Eastern Pamir Plateau

ZHOU Shiyu, MAMAT Miregul, LIU Peng, MENG Yang, NIE Wenyue, TENG Peichen, SHAN Wenjuan*   

  1. Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Biological Resources and Genetic Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830046, China
  • Received:2021-06-10 Online:2022-03-23 Published:2022-03-31

Abstract: The study aimed to investigate the effects of extreme environment on the genetic diversity, genetic structure and genetic differentiation of Lepus tibetanus in the eastern Pamir Plateau by molecular genetics method, and to supply research materials for the conservation of species diversity and genetic diversity in the Pamir Plateau. In this study, the sequence of the mitochondrial CO1 and ND4 genes of L. tibetanus from the eastern Pamir Plateau were detected, and the related bioinformatics softwares for data analysis were used. The results showed that 17 haplotypes were detected in the mitochondrial gene concatenate sequences of 37 L. tibetanus from 4 sampling areas in the eastern Pamir Plateau. The total nucleotide diversity was (0.012±0.006), and the haplotype diversity was (0.935±0.021), which were lower than other Lepu, such as Lepus yarkandensis and Lepus europaeus. Moreover, the genetic diversity of L. tibetanus at relatively high altitudes was lower than that of L. tibetanus at relatively low altitudes. All L. tibetanus were divided into 3 Clade A-C by ML tree and median-joining network. Samples in Clade A had the mixed haplotypes from all the sampling area, samples in Clade B had only L. tibetanus from Khunjerab Pass, and samples in Clade C clustered together with L. yarkandensis in the world Lepus phylogenetic tree. In terms of genetic differentiation, the L. tibetanus population in the Khunjerab Pass area with the highest altitude had the highest degree of differentiation from other populations, and the L. tibetanus population in Wuqia County and Akto County had the lowest degree of differentiation and the largest gene flow. Based on previous studies, it is suggested that the genetic diversity of L. tibetanus from the eastern Pamir Plateau is relatively low, and there is no strong systematic geographical distribution pattern. The L. tibetanus at Khunjerab Pass differed from other L. tibetanus at the mitochondrial gene level under the influence of the extreme environment at the plateau and may have formed different ecotypes. In addition, the introgression of mitochondrial DNA in L. tibetanus caused by hybridization with L. yarkandensis was found.

Key words: Lepus tibetanus, plateau, mitochondria gene, population genetic evolution

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