Genetic variation and population structure of American mink Neovison vison from PCB-contaminated and non-contaminated locales in eastern North America.

ABSTRACT: American mink Neovison vison may be particularly vulnerable to toxicities of persistent contaminants such as PCBs because of their aquatic-based diet, position near the top of the food web, and small deme sizes. Furthermore, ranched mink are sensitive to reproductive toxicities of fish diets from PCB-polluted sites. The upper Hudson River is highly contaminated with PCBs and previous studies have shown elevated hepatic burdens of total and coplanar PCBs in mink collected near the river compared with those from more distant locales in New York and elsewhere. We hypothesized that bioaccumulation of PCBs in Hudson River mink has reduced their levels of genetic diversity or altered their genetic population structure. To address this, we conducted microsatellite DNA analysis on collections made

SUBMITTER: Wirgin I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4662875 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature