Can balancing selection on MHC loci counteract genetic drift in small fragmented populations of black grouse?

ABSTRACT: The ability of natural populations to adapt to new environmental conditions is crucial for their survival and partly determined by the standing genetic variation in each population. Populations with higher genetic diversity are more likely to contain individuals that are better adapted to new circumstances than populations with lower genetic diversity. Here, we use both neutral and major histocompatibility complex (MHC) markers to test whether small and highly fragmented populations hold lower genetic diversity than large ones. We use black grouse as it is distributed across Europe and found in populations with varying degrees of isolation and size. We sampled 11 different populations; five continuous, three isolated, and three small and isolated. We tested patterns of genetic variation in

SUBMITTER: Strand TM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3298947 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature