Subterranean termite phylogeography reveals multiple postglacial colonization events in southwestern Europe.

ABSTRACT: A long-standing goal of evolutionary biology is to understand how paleoclimatic and geological events shape the geographical distribution and genetic structure within and among species. Using a diverse set of markers (cuticular hydrocarbons, mitochondrial and nuclear gene sequences, microsatellite loci), we studied Reticulitermes grassei and R. banyulensis, two closely related termite species in southwestern Europe. We sought to clarify the current genetic structure of populations that formed following postglacial dispersal from refugia in southern Spain and characterize the gene flow between the two lineages over the last several million years. Each marker type separately provided a fragmented picture of the evolutionary history at different timescales. Chemical analyses of cuticular hydr

SUBMITTER: Lefebvre T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4983608 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature