Genetic structure and the North American postglacial expansion of the barnacle, Semibalanus balanoides.

ABSTRACT: Population genetic characteristics are shaped by the life-history traits of organisms and the geologic history of their habitat. This study provides a neutral framework for understanding the population dynamics and opportunities for selection in Semibalanus balanoides, a species that figures prominently in ecological and evolutionary studies in the Atlantic intertidal. We used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region (N = 131) and microsatellite markers (∼40 individuals/site/locus) to survey populations of the broadly dispersing acorn barnacle from 8 sites spanning 800 km of North American coast and 1 site in Europe. Patterns of mtDNA sequence evolution were consistent with larger population sizes in Europe and population expansion at the conclusion of the last ice age, approximately 20 00

SUBMITTER: Flight PA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3529614 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Mar-Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature