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Asadi Aghbolaghi M, Keyghobadi N, Azarakhsh Z, Dadizadeh M, Asadi Aghbolaghi S, Zamani N. An evaluation of isolation by distance and isolation by resistance on genetic structure of the Persian squirrel ( Sciurus anomalus) in the Zagros forests of Iran. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e10225. [PMID: 37408621 PMCID: PMC10318582 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10225] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2022] [Revised: 05/27/2023] [Accepted: 06/11/2023] [Indexed: 07/07/2023] Open
Abstract
For the conservation of wild species, it is important to understand how landscape change and land management can affect gene flow and movement. Landscape genetic analyses provide a powerful approach to infer effects of various landscape factors on gene flow, thereby informing conservation actions. The Persian squirrel is a keystone species in the woodlands and oak forests of Western Asia, where it has experienced recent habitat loss and fragmentation. We conducted landscape genetic analyses of individuals sampled in the northern Zagros Mountains of Iran (provinces of Kurdistan, Kermanshah, and Ilam), focusing on the evaluation of isolation by distance (IBD) and isolation by resistance (IBR), using 16 microsatellite markers. The roles of geographical distance and landscape features including roads, rivers, developed areas, farming and agriculture, forests, lakes, plantation forests, rangelands, shrublands, and rocky areas of varying canopy cover, and swamp margins on genetic structure were quantified using individual-based approaches and resistance surface modeling. We found a significant pattern of IBD but only weak support for an effect of forest cover on genetic structure and gene flow. It seems that geographical distance is an important factor limiting the dispersal of the Persian squirrel in this region. The results of the current study inform ongoing conservation programs for the Persian squirrel in the Zagros oak forest.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marzieh Asadi Aghbolaghi
- Department of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Management, Environmental Sciences Research InstituteShahid Beheshti UniversityTehranIran
| | - Nusha Keyghobadi
- Department of BiologyThe University of Western OntarioLondonCanada
| | - Zeinab Azarakhsh
- Center of Remote Sensing and GIS Research, Faculty of Earth SciencesShahid Beheshti UniversityTehranIran
| | - Marzieh Dadizadeh
- Center of Remote Sensing and GIS Research, Faculty of Earth SciencesShahid Beheshti UniversityTehranIran
| | - Shahab Asadi Aghbolaghi
- Department of Education of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province (Ministry of Education)ShahrekordIran
| | - Navid Zamani
- Department of Environmental Science, Faculty of Natural ResourceUniversity of KurdistanSanandajIran
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İbiş O, Yesari Selçuk A, Teber S, Baran M, Kaya A, Özcan S, Kefelioğlu H, Tez C. Complete mitogenomes of Turkish tree squirrels, Sciurus anomalus and S. vulgaris, (Sciuridae: Rodentia: Mammalia) and their phylogenetic status within the tribe Sciurini. Gene 2022; 841:146773. [PMID: 35905846 DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2022.146773] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2022] [Revised: 06/03/2022] [Accepted: 07/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
The genus Sciurus, a member of the family Sciuridae, is widely distributed in the Holarctic region. To better understand mitogenomic characteristics and to reveal internal phylogenetic relationships of the genus, 20 complete mitogenomes of Turkish tree squirrels were successfully sequenced for the first time, including 19 for S. anomalus (from 16,505 bp to 16,510 bp) and one for S. vulgaris (16,511 bp). The mitogenomes of two species were AT-biased. All tRNAs for two species displayed a typical clover-leaf structure, except for tRNASer(AGY). The tRNA Serine1 (S1)-GCT structure lacked the dihydrouridine (DHU) loop and stem. Based on mitogenomic dataset for phylogeny of Sciurinae, phylogenetic analyses (Bayesian Inference and Maximum Likelihood) did not support monophyly of Sciurus and proposed that S. anomalus, the most basal taxa in the Sciurini tribe, had at least five mitogenome lineages, which were also supported by network analysis. The dissimilarities among the five linegaes of S. anomalus ranged from 0.0042 (0.42%) to 0.0062 (0.62%) using K2P sequence pairwise distances. In addition to this mitogenomic analysis result, phylogenetic analyses using the CYTB + D-loop dataset proposed the existence of at least nine lineages for S. anomalus, which was different than those of the previous studies. The current study proposed that the use of mitogenomic data for reconstructing the phylogeny of Turkey' Sciurus holds an important value for revealing evolutionary relationships.
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Affiliation(s)
- Osman İbiş
- Genome and Stem Cell Center, GENKOK, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey; Vectors and Vector-Born Diseases Research and Implementation Center, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey.
| | - Ahmet Yesari Selçuk
- Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey; Genome and Stem Cell Center, GENKOK, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey.
| | - Saffet Teber
- Genome and Stem Cell Center, GENKOK, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey.
| | - Mehmet Baran
- Genome and Stem Cell Center, GENKOK, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey.
| | - Alaettin Kaya
- Department of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Dicle University, Diyarbakır, Turkey.
| | - Servet Özcan
- Genome and Stem Cell Center, GENKOK, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey; Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey.
| | - Haluk Kefelioğlu
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science and Letters, Ondokuz Mayıs University, Samsun, Turkey.
| | - Coşkun Tez
- Genome and Stem Cell Center, GENKOK, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey; Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey.
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