Unusual evolution of tree frog populations in the Chernobyl exclusion zone.

ABSTRACT: Despite the ubiquity of pollutants in the environment, their long-term ecological consequences are not always clear and still poorly studied. This is the case concerning the radioactive contamination of the environment following the major nuclear accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Notwithstanding the implications of evolutionary processes on the population status, few studies concern the evolution of organisms chronically exposed to ionizing radiation in the Chernobyl exclusion zone. Here, we examined genetic markers for 19 populations of Eastern tree frog (Hyla orientalis) sampled in the Chernobyl region about thirty years after the nuclear power plant accident to investigate microevolutionary processes ongoing in local populations. Genetic diversity estimated from nucl

SUBMITTER: Car C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8867709 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature