Genetic Polymorphism of 11 Allozyme Loci in Populations of Wall Lizards (Podarcis sp.) from the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa

Authors: Pinho C.¹; Harris D.J.²; Ferrand N.³

Source: Biochemical Genetics, Volume 41, Numbers 9-10, 200310 , pp. 343-359(17)

Publisher: Springer

Abstract:

The taxonomy of Iberian and North African wall lizards (Podarcis sp.) has been controversial. Recently, morphological and mtDNA sequence data have provided new information on differentiation within these lacertids. To compare these results to those provided by nuclear markers, we investigated variation at 11 polymorphic protein loci using conventional electrophoresis and isoelectric focusing in 11 populations belonging to seven different mtDNA lineages. A total of 62 alleles were found. Populations belonging to the same mtDNA type presented high genetic similarity, whereas strong differentiation was observed between groups. These results are consistent with those previously obtained from morphological and mtDNA analysis and support the idea that Iberian and North African Podarcis are composed of several well-differentiated entities, some of which are already recognized as species, whereas others (belonging to the P. hispanica complex) clearly need taxonomic revision.

Keywords: Lacertidae; Podarcis hispanica; Podarcis bocagei; Podarcis carbonelli; Podarcis vaucheri; electrophoresis; isoelectric focusing; genetic polymorphism

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Campus Agrário de Vairão, Vairão, Portugal. Departamento de Zoologia-Antropologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal;, Email: catarina@mail.icav.up.pt 2: CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Campus Agrário de Vairão, Vairão, Portugal 3: CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Campus Agrário de Vairão, Vairão, Portugal. Departamento de Zoologia-Antropologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal

Publication date: 2003-01-01

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