Genetic diversity, population structure, and historical demography of a highly vagile and human‐impacted seabird in the Pacific Ocean: The red‐tailed tropicbird, Phaethon rubricauda

The genetic diversity and population structure of harbour seals (Phoca vitulina richardsi) along the coasts of British Columbia and parts of Alaska were investigated using both mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and nuclear DNA. A 475-bp fragment of the mitochondrial control region was amplified and sequenced from 128 animals. Sixty variable sites defined 72 mtDNA haplotypes with pairwise nucleotide differences as high as 5%. Fifty-eight haplotypes were represented by a single individual, and shared haplotypes were generally restricted to a small geographic range. Phylogenetic reconstruction revealed two distinct populations comprising (i) southern British Columbia and (ii) northern British Columbia - southeast Alaska. Furthermore, the order of the clades suggests that the Pacific Ocean was colonized at least twice, 670 000 and 380 000 years ago. Haplotypes from the first invasion are restricted to a small number of seals around southern Vancouver Island. Analyses of five polymorphic microsatellite loci showed significant differences between the populations of southern British Columbia and northern British Columbia - Alaska. Migration rates for males based on microsatellite data (3-22 seals/generation) were higher than those obtained for females from mtDNA data (0.3 females/generation). Combining all the DNA data collected to date suggests that there are at least three populations of harbour seals in the Pacific composed of seals from (i) Japan, Russia, Alaska, and northern British Columbia, (ii) southern British Columbia and Puget Sound, Washington, and (iii) the outer coasts of Washington, Oregon, and California. The data do not support the existence of two subspecies of harbour seals in the Pacific Ocean.

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Abundance and Genetic Diversity of Aerobic Anoxygenic Phototrophic Bacteria of Coastal Regions of the Pacific Ocean

Applied and Environmental Microbiology ◽

10.1128/aem.06268-11 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 78 (8) ◽

pp. 2858-2866 ◽

Cited By ~ 43

Author(s):

Anna E. Ritchie ◽

Zackary I. Johnson

Keyword(s):

Genetic Diversity ◽

Pacific Ocean ◽

Environmental Variables ◽

Anoxygenic Phototrophic Bacteria ◽

Bacterial Populations ◽

Content Type ◽

The Pacific ◽

Near Shore ◽

The Pacific Ocean ◽

Abundance And Diversity

ABSTRACTAerobic anoxygenic phototrophic (AAP) bacteria are photoheterotrophic microbes that are found in a broad range of aquatic environments. Although potentially significant to the microbial ecology and biogeochemistry of marine ecosystems, their abundance and genetic diversity and the environmental variables that regulate these properties are poorly understood. Using samples along nearshore/offshore transects from five disparate islands in the Pacific Ocean (Oahu, Molokai, Futuna, Aniwa, and Lord Howe) and off California, we show that AAP bacteria, as quantified by thepufMgene biomarker, are most abundant near shore and in areas with high chlorophyll orSynechococcusabundance. These AAP bacterial populations are genetically diverse, with most members belonging to the alpha- or gammaproteobacterial groups and with subclades that are associated with specific environmental variables. The genetic diversity of AAP bacteria is structured along the nearshore/offshore transects in relation to environmental variables, and unculturedpufMgene libraries suggest that nearshore communities are distinct from those offshore. AAP bacterial communities are also genetically distinct between islands, such that the stations that are most distantly separated are the most genetically distinct. Together, these results demonstrate that environmental variables regulate both the abundance and diversity of AAP bacteria but that endemism may also be a contributing factor in structuring these communities.

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