The ploidy and genetic structure of hybrid populations of water frogs Pelophylax esculentus complex (Amphibia, Ranidae) of Ukraine fauna

AbstractParasitic fauna of water frogs was mainly studied in the second half of the 20th century. However, these studies were done without differentiation into species and hybrids and pooled the 3 taxa as “water frogs” or “green frogs”. The aim of this study was to make an inventory of helminth species as well as their prevalence and intensity of infection in the two parental species (Pelophylax ridibundus and P. lessonae) and the hybrid (P. esculentus) of water frogs from 3 big populations composed of hundreds or thousands of individuals inhabited natural and seminatural landscapes in Poland. Eight helminth species were found: Polystoma integerrimum, Diplodiscus subclavatus, Opisthoglyphe ranae, Gorgodera cygnoides, Haematoloechus variegatus, Oswaldocruzia filiformis, Cosmocerca ornata and Acanthocephalus ranae. The results were compared with data from other, polish and European studies. Additionally we compared the level of infection among water frog taxa.

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A procedure for taxon assessment based on morphological variation in European water frogs (Pelophylax esculentus complex)

TURKISH JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY ◽

10.3906/zoo-1912-29 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 44 (3) ◽

pp. 215-223

Author(s):

Katarina BREKA ◽

Imre KRIZMANIĆ ◽

Tanja VUKOV ◽

Srdjan STAMENKOVIĆ

Keyword(s):

Morphological Variation ◽

European Water ◽

Water Frogs ◽

Pelophylax Esculentus ◽

European Water Frogs

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Body size variation in hybrids among populations of European water frogs (Pelophylax esculentus complex) with different breeding systems

Amphibia-Reptilia ◽

10.1163/15685381-bja10005 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 41 (3) ◽

pp. 361-371

Author(s):

Adam Hermaniuk ◽

Magdalena Czajkowska ◽

Anetta Borkowska ◽

Jan R.E. Taylor

Keyword(s):

Body Size ◽

Sex Ratio ◽

Parental Species ◽

Size Variation ◽

Breeding Systems ◽

European Water ◽

Water Frogs ◽

Population Type ◽

Pelophylax Esculentus ◽

European Water Frogs

Abstract In some populations, hybrids reproduce with a parental species by eliminating the genome of this species from their own germline and produce gametes that only contain the genome of the other parental species (sexual host). This mode of reproduction, known as hybridogenesis, leads to a conflict of interest between the two parties because the sexual host should avoid mating with the hybrid to prevent a reduction in reproductive success, whereas the hybrid depends on such matings for survival. We investigated European water frogs (Pelophylax esculentus complex), including hybrids (P. esculentus, genotype LR) and two sexual host species (P. lessonae, LL and P. ridibundus, RR). We hypothesized that to maximize fitness, hybrid males should be morphologically more similar to the sexual host that is preferred by females for successful reproduction. To test this hypothesis, we compared hybrid males in two different population types, L-E (hybrids coexist with LL) and L-E-R (hybrids coexist with both LL and RR). The latter was described in terms of genome composition, sex ratio, and mate choice preferences; the sex ratio of hybrids was significantly male-biased. We found that LR males from the L-E-R populations were significantly larger than those from the L-E, which makes them more similar to P. ridibundus, the largest species within the P. esculentus complex. We suggest that a larger body size of hybrid males may provide a reproductive advantage in the L-E-R population type, where the most common type of pair caught in the breeding season was LR males × RR females.

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The frequency of degenerating germ cells in the ovaries of water frogs (Pelophylax esculentus complex)

Zoomorphology ◽

10.1007/s00435-016-0337-4 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 136 (1) ◽

pp. 75-83 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Paweł Szydłowski ◽

Magdalena Chmielewska ◽

Beata Rozenblut-Kościsty ◽

Maria Ogielska

Keyword(s):

Germ Cells ◽

Water Frogs ◽

Pelophylax Esculentus

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Genetic structure of the water frog (Pelophylax esculentus complex) populations in the south of the Central Russian Upland

Ecological genetics ◽

10.17816/ecogen48555 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 19 (2) ◽

pp. 107-119

Author(s):

Anatoliy S. Barkhatov ◽

Eduard A. Snegin ◽

Sergeu R. Yusupov

Keyword(s):

Genetic Structure ◽

Gene Exchange ◽

Water Frog ◽

Genetic Structure Of Populations ◽

Central Russian Upland ◽

Pcr Products ◽

Glacial Epoch ◽

Pelophylax Esculentus ◽

High Level ◽

Dna Microsatellite

BACKGROUND: The water frog (Pelophylax esculentus complex) is hybrid in composition. In view of the fact that a large number of data on the species composition of the water frog and very scarce material on the genetic structure of populations are available in the literature, we aimed to analyze the genetic structure of populations of the water frog in the southern part of the Middle Russian upland, which was one of the refugia for many species during the glacial epoch and the center of dispersion in the postglacial time, based on DNA microsatellite markers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study involved 36 local populations. DNA variability was analyzed by multiplex SSR-PCR. Seven loci (Res 14, Res 15, Res 17, Res 22, Rrid059A, Rrid082A, and Rrid171A) were used for amplification. Fragment analysis of PCR products was performed on an ABI PRISM 3500 automated capillary DNA sequencer (Applied Biosystems, USA). RESULTS: The total number of alleles detected ranged from 13 to 41. The effective number of alleles (Ae) averaged 4.569 0.219, the Chenon index (I) 1.567 0.04, level of expected heterozygosity (Не) 0.68 0.01. According to Wrights model, the greatest contribution to genetic variability is made by the heterogeneity of individuals within populations, some of which are of a hybrid nature (Fis = 0.281 0.069, Fit = 0.413 0.053, Fst = 0.180 0.017). The average indicator of the intensity of gene exchange between populations (Nm) was 1.212 0.142 individuals per generation. The calculation of the effective abundance using the LD method indicates a high level of viability of the studied groups of the frogs. CONCLUSION: The results demonstrated a high level of genetic diversity and viability of most of the studied groups, which, due to the intense gene exchange between them, can represent a single panmictic population. The data of the genetic analysis support the active adaptation of P. esculentus complex to living in an urbanized environment.

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Cytological maps of lampbrush chromosomes of European water frogs (Pelophylax esculentus complex) from the Eastern Ukraine

BMC Genetics ◽

10.1186/1471-2156-14-26 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

pp. 26 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Dmitry Dedukh ◽

Glib Mazepa ◽

Dmitry Shabanov ◽

Juriy Rosanov ◽

Spartak Litvinchuk ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Lampbrush Chromosomes ◽

European Water ◽

Water Frogs ◽

Pelophylax Esculentus ◽

European Water Frogs

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Stability of spermatogenesis and displays of natural selection at the cellular and individual level in immature representatives of the Pelophylax esculentus complex

Biosystems Diversity ◽

10.15421/011624 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 24 (1) ◽

pp. 193-202

Author(s):

O. Biriuk ◽

O. Usova ◽

O. Meleshko ◽

D. Shabanov

Keyword(s):

Parental Species ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Age Groups ◽

Normal Karyotype ◽

Early Death ◽

Karyological Analysis ◽

Individual Level ◽

Small Water ◽

Water Frogs ◽

Pelophylax Esculentus

Pelophylax esculentus is an interspecific hybrid which reproduces hemiclonally by crossing with the parental species (P. ridibundus or P. lessonae). The structure of hemiclonal population systems is of great interest. The majority of investigations into populations of water frogs deal with samples of mature animals, while subadults are less studied. We collected a random sample of 73 small water frogs from three localities in the Siverskyi Donets River floodplain. All frogs were measured, injected with colchicines and killed after anesthesia. We determined the species specifity, sex, age and ploidy of every individual. In addition, we measured testis length and studied the germ cells of all males by means of karyological analysis. We calculated the portion of triploids in the largest subsample from the vicinity of the Biological Station of V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University and carried out a meta-analysis of previous publications dealing with composition of green frog samples from this locality. The proportion of triploids in our sample appeared to be approximately the same as 12 years ago. However, this proportion in our sample differed significantly from that obtained in recent samples of green frogs belonging to other age groups (adults and metamorphs) from the same locality. The share of triploids of P. esculentus is the lowest in the sample of metamorphs. This proportion increases in froglets because of early death of representatives of parental species which originated from hybrid-hybrid crossing. Then the number of triploids among adult P. esculentus individuals declines again probably because of their lower viability compared to diploids. We have revealed that subadult diploids have erythrocytes smaller than 28 microns, while triploids’ erythrocytes exceed 27 microns. Therefore, in borderline cases true ploidy could be determined only by the karyological technique. The average ratio between testis length and body length appeared to be larger in the parental species than in both diploid and triploid hybrids. Karyological analysis has revealed that P. esculentus had significantly lower portions of spermatocytes I with normal karyotype (13 bivalents) in the testis in comparison with P. ridibundus, but this value increases in adult hybrids. We suggest that increasing of spermatogenesis stability in adult frogs as opposed to subadults might be the consequence of both selection of germ cell lines in the testis and more frequent survival of individuals with stable gametogenesis.

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