Lack of population genetic structure in the marine nematodes Ptycholaimellus pandispiculatus and Terschellingia longicaudata in beaches of the Persian Gulf,Iran |
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| Authors: | Narjes Sahraean Jelle Van Campenhout Annelien Rigaux Hadi Mosallanejad Frederik Leliaert Tom Moens |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Biology, Marine Biology Lab, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium;2. Iranian Research Institute of Plant Protection, Tehran, Iran;3. Botanic Garden Meise, Meise, Belgium |
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| Abstract: | We investigated genetic diversity and population genetic structure of two common benthic nematode species, Ptycholaimellus pandispiculatus and Terschellingia longicaudata, from sandy beaches in the area of Bandar Abbas (Iran), Persian Gulf. Based upon partial mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase c subunit 1 (COI) gene data, 17 and two haplotypes were found for P. pandispiculatus and Te. longicaudata, respectively. Analysis of molecular variance did not reveal a significant population genetic structure for either species. The absence of genetic structuring indicates substantial dispersal and gene flow in our study area. To assess the species structure of Te. longicaudata at a larger geographic scale, we compared 18S rDNA and COI sequences from Iran and the Scheldt Estuary in The Netherlands to ascertain whether they truly belong to the same species. Our data confirmed previous studies that Te. longicaudata likely constitutes a complex of multiple cryptic species, with one of these species having a (near) cosmopolitan distribution. |
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| Keywords: | cosmopolitanism cryptic species dispersal gene flow marine nematodes population genetics |
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