Faculty Scholarly Dissemination Grants
Microgeographic population genetic structure of Baylisascaris procyonis (Nematoda: Ascaroidae) in Western Michigan indicates the Grand River is a barrier to gene flow
Department
Biomedical Sciences
College
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Date Range
2014-2015
Disciplines
Medicine and Health Sciences
Abstract
Baylisascaris procyonis, the raccoon roundworm, is increasingly being recognized for its zoonotic and public health importance. Fine-scale analyses of the population genetics of this species have been problematic due to a lack of appropriate genetic marker. We developed eight polymorphic microsatellites for B. procyonis, amplification of which in a sample of 74 worms collected from 10 raccoons in Western Michigan revealed significant population structure. Bayesian clustering indicates two subpopulations, one on either side of the Grand River, which bisects the region sampled. Estimates of FST, and results from AMOVA and isolation by distance, further corroborate a scenario whereby the river is acting as a barrier to gene flow, a rather unusual finding given the high vagility of raccoons and microgeographic scale (~500 km2) of the analysis. We describe one possible mechanism for how this pattern of structure could have become established.
Conference Name
Annual Meeting - American Society for Parasitologists
Conference Location
Omaha, NE
ScholarWorks Citation
Graham, Douglas H. and Sarkissian, Christina, "Microgeographic population genetic structure of Baylisascaris procyonis (Nematoda: Ascaroidae) in Western Michigan indicates the Grand River is a barrier to gene flow" (2015). Faculty Scholarly Dissemination Grants. 594.
https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/fsdg/594
