Fredsted T, Pertoldi C, Schierup M H, Kappeler P M
Department of Ecology and Genetics, Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Aarhus, Ny Munkegade, building 540, 8000 Arhus C, Denmark.
Mol Ecol. 2005 Jul;14(8):2363-72. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2005.02596.x.
Information on genetic structure can be used to complement direct inferences on social systems and behaviour. We studied the genetic structure of the solitary grey mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus), a small, nocturnal primate endemic to western Madagascar, with the aim of getting further insight on its breeding structure. Tissue samples from 167 grey mouse lemurs in an area covering 12.3 km2 in Kirindy Forest were obtained from trapping. The capture data indicated a noncontinuous distribution of individuals in the study area. Using 10 microsatellite markers, significant genetic differentiation in the study area was demonstrated and dispersal was found to be significantly male biased. Furthermore, we observed an overall excess of homozygotes in the total population (F(IT) = 0.131), which we interpret as caused by fine-scale structure with breeding occurring in small units. Evidence for a clumped distribution of identical homozygotes was found, supporting the notion that dispersal distance for breeding was shorter than that for foraging, i.e. the breeding neighbourhood size is smaller than the foraging neighbourhood size. In conclusion, we found a more complex population structure than what has been previously reported in studies performed on smaller spatial scales. The noncontinuous distribution of individuals and the effects of social variables on the genetic structure have implications for the interpretation of social organization and the planning of conservation activities that may apply to other solitary and endangered mammals as well.
基因结构信息可用于补充对社会系统和行为的直接推断。我们研究了独居的灰鼠狐猴（Microcebus murinus）的基因结构，它是马达加斯加西部特有的一种小型夜行性灵长类动物，目的是进一步了解其繁殖结构。通过诱捕获取了基林迪森林中面积为12.3平方公里区域内167只灰鼠狐猴的组织样本。捕获数据表明研究区域内个体分布不连续。使用10个微卫星标记，证明了研究区域内存在显著的基因分化，并且发现扩散明显偏向雄性。此外，我们观察到总群体中纯合子总体过剩（F(IT)=0.131），我们将其解释为由小规模结构导致，繁殖发生在小单位内。发现了相同纯合子呈聚集分布的证据，支持了繁殖扩散距离短于觅食扩散距离的观点，即繁殖邻域大小小于觅食邻域大小。总之，我们发现其种群结构比之前在较小空间尺度上进行的研究所报道的更为复杂。个体的不连续分布以及社会变量对基因结构的影响，对于社会组织的解释以及可能适用于其他独居和濒危哺乳动物的保护活动规划也具有启示意义。
